


The Power of Five

by Kureru_Elric



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/M, Genderswap, Magic, Non-Graphic Violence, Panic Attacks, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-03-24 20:49:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 29,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3783904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kureru_Elric/pseuds/Kureru_Elric
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once, long ago, a great force known as The Dark One entered the world with great powers that made the land tremble and the people cower in fear. To combat the evil, the Gods gifted five young women, the Five Holy Maidens, with magic powers. When the five alone could not stop The Dark One, the Maidens sealed him away, and in doing so sealed themselves, until the day they would be awoken again.</p><p>50 years later, a group of adventurers raid a temple in hopes of finding gold, but stumble upon something even more spectacular.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> This has been incubating in my head for, like, three or four months. Time to get it out. 
> 
> Rating is subject to change later on.

_Once, long ago, a great force entered the world with the intent to conquer all. The man was gifted with terrible powers that made the land tremble and the people cower in fear. His name has been lost to the ages, as no one dares to speak it. He is referred to as “The Dark One”. He and his band of evil creatures were a nearly unstoppable force._

_So the gods in Heaven chose five young women and gifted them with the magic to combat this evil, the Five Holy Maidens. And with their powers, together they fought the armies of The Dark One, but were not strong enough to defeat him by themselves. So they used their power to seal him away, and in doing so sealed themselves as well, until the day that they would be awoken again._

\-----

The great plains of the land of Teiko were vast and empty. Birds soared above in the blue sky’s dotted with wisps of clouds. And through these plains five figures traveled on horseback. They wore simple clothing, overlaid with small amounts of chain mail and armor protecting their shoulders and chests. They carried swords at their hips, and two also carried a bow and a quiver of arrows across their backs. They looked like a normal band of travelers, even if the colors of their hair resembled a partial rainbow.

The group slowed down as they neared the river, dismounting and giving the horses time to drink. One of the boys, a tall red head with oddly shaped eyebrows, stretched his arms over his head with a grunt. “How long have we been riding for?” he asked.

“Only a few hours,” the one with green hair replied, fixing his glasses and taking the opportunity of rest to hunt for some food in a rucksack.

“Mido-chin, are there any snacks in there?” asked another, a huge man with shaggy purple hair.

“Check your own sack,” the green haired man, Midorima Shintarou, said.

A tan man with short blue hair gave a short laugh. “Murasakibara, how did you get so tall eating only snacks your whole life?” he chuckled.

“Now, now, don’t tease him Daiki. Let Atsushi do as he wishes,” said another, a shorter boy with red hair and duel colored eyes, one red and one gold.

“Whatever you say, Akashi.”

“How far do you think the temple is from here?” the taller red head asked. “Another hour or so?”

“Just about, Taiga,” Akashi Seijurou replied.

Kagami Taiga yawned once. “I need a nap, too much riding isn’t good for me.”

“You and me both,” Aomine Daiki said.

“I wouldn’t,” Akashi called over to them, “we’re going to be leaving again once the horses have had enough to drink.” Both Kagami and Aomine groaned.

Aomine nudged Kagami with his elbow. “Hey, Kagami. What do you think we’ll find in the temple?”

“I don’t know, but hopefully some cool treasures or rare items. Sell that stuff and we’ll be set for life!”

“How long have they been abandoned?” asked Murasakibara.

Midorima sat down on the grass next to them, stretching his legs out in front of him. “Roughly 50 years. A little less than that. They were built to commemorate the five Holy Maidens who disappeared after The Dark One’s attack.”

“We knew that much,” Kagami muttered, to which Aomine snickered.

“Come now you two. Don’t laugh. Shintarou was only trying to help,” Akashi said. He mounted his horse again. “It’s time for us to leave. Let’s go.”

Groaning, Kagami and Aomine stood up and mounted their own horses, Midorima and Murasakibara close behind them. They set off, the sun at their backs. They rode until the sun began its descent, at which time they approached a tall, rectangular structure. Its doorway was lined with thick round pillars, their once light gray exterior dulled from exposure to the elements. The five horsemen tied their horses to the trees and entered the structure, swords drawn.

“Anyone got a torch?” Aomine asked, his voice reverberating around the room. Midorima produced a flint from his rucksack and handed it to Akashi, who promptly lit a stick with it and handed it back to him. They gazed up at the marble ceiling, carved with intricate spiral patters, many of which resembled hearts.

“It’s so empty,” Kagami said quietly.

“There are other rooms,” Akashi said. “We’ll split up and search them all.” He shot Aomine a look out of the corner of his eye, who was already making his way towards one of the doors. “Atsushi, you will come with me. Taiga, stick with Daiki. He’ll get himself lost if he goes by himself.”

“Guys?” Aomine called to them.

“And I am to go alone?” Midorima asked.

“Correct. I trust you can handle youself?”

“You assume correctly.”

“Guys?”

“What, Mine-chin?” Murasakibara whined, annoyed.

“You should come take a look at this. It’s... weird.”

The group made their way over to him, to where he stood in the doorway with a dumbfounded expression on his face. He pointed to something in the room, and they all looked in. Similar dumbfounded expressions graced their faces.

“What the hell?” Kagami broke the silence.

Floating above the floor was a large violet crystal-like substance, emitting its own fairly bright light to illuminate the room. As the group made their way, slowly, towards it, swords at the ready, they could see that the structure wasn’t just for show; something was inside it.

“Is that...?” Midorima drifted off.

“It’s a person,” Akashi finished.

Indeed, inside the crystal was the body of a human, a woman that appeared to be roughly their age. Long black hair cascaded down her back, with long bangs covering her left eye. She wore a long dress with a thin collar that circled her neck, and her hands were held delicately over her chest. She appeared to be asleep, although they couldn’t tell. For all they knew she was dead, and that this crystal served as her final resting place.

“What the hell?” Kagami said again, with confusion seeping through his voice. “I thought this temple was empty?”

“We all thought that,” Midorima said, pushing his glasses higher up on the bridge of his nose. “This is... unexpected, to say the least.”

“She’s pretty,” Murasakibara commented. Aomine snorted.

“Is she alive?” Midorima asked, glancing at Akashi. Akashi took a few steps closer to the crystal, observing the woman inside.

He shook his head. “I cannot tell. Perhaps, although I couldn’t explain how.”  

“Magic?”

“That seems likely.”

Aomine strode up to it, reaching out a hand to touch it. It was smooth beneath his fingers, and strangely warm. He bounced his sword up and down in his hand a few times, before stepping back to take a swing at it.

“Aomine!” Kagami shouted, “Don’t! We don’t know what that’ll do!”

It didn’t stop him from trying. His sword connected with a loud clang, but when he looked, there wasn’t even a crack. “I didn’t even scratch it. I gave it everything I had.”

“Daiki, that’s enough.” Akashi ushered him back. “It appears we can’t break it, does anyone else have a suggestion?”

Midorima glanced to his right. “Murasakibara, you’ve been awfully quiet. Is something the matter?” he asked the giant.

Murasakibara laid a hand over his heart. “I feel funny,” he said.

Akashi approached him, concerned. “What do you mean?”

“It’s like there’s something pulling me.” Murasakibara took a few massive steps forward until he stood in front of the encased woman. “It’s like she’s pulling me.”

“Murasakibara, we don’t even know if she’s alive or dead,” Kagami said.

The giant reached one hand towards the crystal. “She’s alive,” he said simply, and laid his palm on it.

The light that had illuminated the crystal receded towards the spot where his hand rested, before glowing brighter than before, causing the other four to turn away and shield their eyes. When they looked back the crystal had faded, the woman inside slowly drifting to the ground before Murasakibara caught her. He held her close to his chest and lowered the two of them to the ground.

Akashi, Midorima, Aomine, and Kagami ran over to them, all of them staring apprehensively at the two of them. Murasakibara looked up at them. “She’s warm,” he said.

Midorima knelt down and placed two fingers to a spot at the side of the woman’s neck, at her pulse point, and his eyes widened in surprise. “She is alive,” he breathed.

“How?” Aomine asked.

“Was it magic?” asked Kagami. The others just shook their heads.

“We won’t know until she wakes up,” Akashi said, his dual colored eyes never once leaving the sight of his friend and the sleeping woman.

Murasakibara looked down at her face. Her eyelashes fluttered, and her fingers twitched from where they rested on her stomach. “Aka-chin, I think she’s waking up now,” he said, to which the others quieted down and waited. The woman’s brows furrowed together before her whole body relaxed in his arms and her eyes opened slowly. She blinked, trying to clear her vision, and slowly she managed to focus on Murasakibara’s face.

“...who?” she whispered. Her voice was rough, grainy, from lack of use.

“Murasakibara Atsushi,” he said quietly. “Are you okay?”

She gave a slight nod, exhaustion written all over her face. “You... woke me?” When Murasakibara nodded, she smiled sweetly at him. “Thank... you.” Her eyes closed as she fell back asleep again.

The group was still for a bit, before Murasakibara adjusted his hold on the sleeping woman and stood up, lifting her. “Mido-chin, should we take her outside?” he asked.

Midorima snapped out of his trance, nodding his head. While he had no idea what had just happened, he doubted anyone else did. “We should all go,” he told them. They all nodded and followed the giant out of the temple.

The sunlight helped everyone snap out of their haze, and Akashi began issuing orders. As Kagami started a fire and set up a pot to make soup using wild plants he found in the area, Midorima unrolled the bedroll he pulled off of Murasakibara’s horse and spread it out across the ground, and stepped back as Murasakibara set the sleeping woman down on it and pulled a blanket up to her chin to keep her comfortable.

Aomine took this moment to throw in his two cents on the matter. “That was fucking nuts,” he started with. “I thought we were gonna find treasure in there, like, actual gold treasure, not a pretty girl stuck in a shiny crystal. And what was up with you, Murasakibara? I touched the damn thing and nothing happened. Why did it react to you?”

Murasakibara just shrugged, pulling some wrapped snack from his pocket. “No idea.”

“What I’m the most curious about is how she appeared to have been in there for a long time, yet she’s perfectly healthy,” Midorima said from where he was helping Kagami prepare food for them.

“But doesn’t it seem familiar to you?” Akashi asked.

“How so?”

“Think about it. A young woman trapped in a crystal waiting to be awoken, and even though more than one of us touched it, the crystal only broke for Atsushi. It’s beginning to sound a lot like the Maiden’s Legend.”

“But there were five of them, and that was almost 50 years ago!” Aomine exclaimed. “We only found one!”

“There are five temples, Daiki.”

“And if those crystals were in fact magic, then it’s within the realm of possibility that it could sustain her life for 50 years, more if needed,” Kagami said, giving the pot one final stir before reaching for a bowl. “Soup’s ready, by the way.”

“Thank you, Kaga-chin,” Murasakibara said as Kagami handed him a bowl. He ate quietly, keeping an eye on the woman. It struck him that she never told him her name. Oh well, he’d wait until she woke up again.

That time proved to be a long while, as the sun began to set and no signs of her waking up. Murasakibara and Midorima sat nearby, incase she did ever awaken, while the others began to lay their own bedrolls onto the grass near the fire. The talked of nothing in particular, little stories of their childhoods or recalling old memories. It wasn’t until the sun had long set beneath the trees that Akashi finally told them all to get some rest. They slept until the sun rose, and for once, Akashi wasn’t the earliest riser. He woke to find Murasakibara was already awake, if he even slept at all.

“Atsushi,” he said softly, to not wake the others, “did you sleep at all last night?” He stood up and walked to where his friend sat, kneeling down by him.

Murasakibara said, “I slept for a bit. A few hours.”

“That’s unlike you.” Akashi glanced down at their guest. “Is it because of her?”

“I feel... connected to her somehow. Like I know her, or I’m supposed to.”

Akashi smiled. Murasakibara only spoke this much to him when he was in need of help. He knew that whatever his friend was feeling wasn’t just exaggeration. “You said yesterday that you felt like you were being drawn to her, like something was tugging at your heart. Does it still feel like that now?”

The giant nodded.

“She’ll wake up soon, Atsushi. You’ll get your answers then.”

Murasakibara smiled a little. “She smiled at me, before. It made me happy.”

Akashi patted his arm. “You deserve to be happy. We all do.”

The taller man didn’t say anything for a while, and Akashi left to start waking the others. It wasn’t until a few minutes later, when the others were awake and Kagami was making breakfast, that Murasakibara spoke up again. “Aka-chin, she’s waking up again.” The others abandoned whatever it was they were doing and crowded around him, before Akashi pushed them back a few steps. Gently, of course.

The woman lifted one hand weakly and rubbed her eyes. Cracking one open, she blinked against the morning sunlight. Her eyes darted back and forth a bit before settling on Murasakibara’s face. “...Atsushi,” she said quietly.

“Good morning,” he said.

She shifted, struggling to sit up, and Murasakibara looped one arm under her shoulders to help her. Once she was stable, Kagami handed him a cup of cool water, which he gave to her and she drank eagerly. Now more awake, she let her eyes wander across the whole group. “Hello,” she said.

“Hello to you too,” Akashi said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, miss...”

“Oh I’m sorry. My name is Himuro Tatsuya. It’s a pleasure to meet you too.” She nodded her head to him. One by one the others introduced themselves as well.

“Miss Tatsuya, do you know why we found you inside that temple?” Akashi asked.

Himuro glanced up at the temple. “Is that where they put me?” she asked.

“Put you?” Midorima questioned.

“I remember crystalizing, but I fell asleep not long after. I remember being in a field. Was I moved?”

“We can’t answer that,” Akashi said. “We weren’t there.”

“Not there?” Himuro sounded confused. “What do you mean?”

“You’re one of the five Holy Maidens, right?” asked Kagami. When she nodded, he continued “And you battled the Dark One, right?” Another nod. “That was almost 50 years ago.”

Murasakibara felt the black haired woman tense up, and subconsciously pulled her a little closer. She relaxed.

“That long,” she said, less a question and more a statement of recognition. “I always knew it could be that long. It could even have been longer.” She looked up at Murasakibara. “Thank you, Atsushi, really. If you could wake me, then the others can be awoken as well.”

“Others?” Midorima said, something in his voice betraying the mild surprise at Himuro’s casual usage of Murasakibara’s first name. “You mean the other maidens?”

“Yes, exactly. If I was awoken in this life time, then the others will have to be awoken in this life time as well. And if I’m right, it will be by you all,” she said, gesturing to Akashi, Midorima, Aomine, and Kagami.

They were silent for a moment. “Well,” Aomine spoke up, “that’s not what I was expecting to here right when I woke up this morning. Hey, Kagami, is breakfast ready yet?” 

“Yeah yeah, it is. Get it yourself you lazy idiot,” Kagami said.

“Nah, too tired. You get it.”

“I’m not getting you anything.”

Himuro laughed at their antics. “May I have some too, Taiga-kun?”

Kagami stuttered a bit. He wasn’t used to people using his first name. And this girl has only know him for a few minutes. “O-of course.” He handed her a plate.

Himuro began to reach for the food, but paused and looked up at Murasakibara, who still was holding her up. “Atsushi, do you want some?” she asked.

Murasakibara nodded, and took the bit of food she offered him.

Akashi couldn’t help but smirk a little. Murasakibara looked so comfortable with her, showing through in the fact that he was still draped across her back, resting his chin on the top of her head as she fed him bits of food. Himuro would only smile, quietly reminding him that he had his own plate but he would just nod and do nothing about it. Looking away from the two, Akashi thought to himself that this could be the start of something incredible.


	2. Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got two really nice comments from people asking for more, and it was really inspiring! Thank you to all who left kudos, bookmarked, or commented! You prompted me to get this chapter done!

As the sun rose farther into the sky and the group grew more and more comfortable with their new guest. Himuro kept a very calm look about her with a gentle smile and never strayed too far from Murasakibara’s side. She would laugh with their jokes and conversed with each of them equally. After the group had lunch, with bellies full and minds content, Akashi finally asked the question that had been on everyone’s mind.

“Tatsuya,” he asked “what happened that day, 50 years ago, when you and the others battled The Dark One?”

Himuro looked over from where she stood near Midorima, watching him prepare medicine for the group. She smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress and knelt down by Murasakibara again. “Where should I start?”

“How about with the battle itself?” Midorima said. “We know you fought him, but what happened to cause you to seal yourselves away?”

“Well...”

\-----

_“We can’t hold out much longer!” one of the women exclaimed._

_“What are we going to do?” shouted another._

_Himuro was getting nervous. One of the girls had already passed out, and she cradled the girl’s head in her lap. The field around them was swarming with dark monsters, the grass mostly on fire or burnt to a crisp, and Himuro could tell just by looking that they were going to lose. They didn’t have enough power, and it made her almost angry. Why would the Gods gift them these powers if it wasn’t enough to defeat The Dark One?_

_“Tatsu-chan! Help!”_

_Himuro’s head snapped up and she gasped loudly as she watched one of the others be grabbed by The Dark One himself. He threw her away hard, the woman’s body bouncing across the ground and skidding to a halt a little ways away from Himuro. “No!” she yelled. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. They were running out of time. They had to do something._

_“We can’t continue like this!” Himuro yelled out to the others. “He’ll kill us all!”_

_“Then what do you suggest we do?”_

_“We seal him away!” the tallest of the girls said. “I can use my powers to create a cage for him!”_

_“But what will that do to you?” the other asked._

_The tall woman smiled sadly at her. “It’ll seal me too.”_

_“No, I won’t let you. It’s too dangerous!”_

_“No, do it!” Himuro said. They looked at her, surprised. “Seal him away, and seal all of us too! We’ll wait until we’re strong enough! Until our Knights arrive! And then once we’re all awake again, we can try again.”_

_“Tatsuya-san...”_

_“Do it, please!”_

_The tall woman hesitated, but nodded her head in agreement._

\-----

“I asked her to seal us, and she did. It was our last-ditch effort to end the fighting, but it worked. I remember the crystals forming around us, and then I passed out. The Dark One was sealed as well, which is why you’re able to live in peace now.” 

“You said something about ‘Knights’, right?” Kagami asked. “What do you mean by that?”

“When we were gifted our powers, the Gods mentioned that while we would be very powerful on our own, each of us was also gifted a Knight. The Knight’s duty is to amplify our powers, assist us in battle, and protect us if necessary. But we couldn’t find our Knights in that life time, so we were forced to go into the battle on our own. And if not for Ryouta’s quick thinking, we would all be dead and The Dark One would have won.”

“Ryouta?” Aomine questioned.

“Kise Ryouta. She’s the woman who sealed us all.” Himuro said.

“How did she manage to do that, anyway?” Aomine said, scratching his neck. “Exactly how strong are you guys?”

Himuro giggled. “Very strong. And she was able to do it because of where her power stems from. Our powers all take the form of different emotions, feelings, or natural aspects of the world. Ryouta’s power stems from light, so against The Dark One’s powers of darkness, here’s were the most powerful.”

“Where do yours come from?” Murasakibara asked.

Smiling at him, Himuro said, “My power stems from love.”

Murasakibara rested his head on her shoulder. “Fitting,” he offhandedly commented. If the others noticed the faint red blush on Himuro’s cheeks, they didn’t comment.

“Not just romantic love. Platonic as well, and parental. Even love towards nature and unnatural things. As long as there is love in the world my powers will remain strong.” She gently pat the top of Murasakibara’s head. “But thank you, that’s very sweet of you to say.”

Aomine tapped Kagami’s shoulder, who leaned in closer to hear him. “You noticed how close they are?” he asked.

Kagami nodded. “I thought it was weird at first, but they look so natural together.”

“It’s very weird. Are we gonna be like that too? With whatever girl we end up waking up?”

“Maybe,” Kagami nodded. Aomine just groaned.

“Tatsuya,” Akashi said. “Are you up for travel? We would like to visit the other temples as well.”

“I’m ready when you are.”

“Then we’ll leave soon. Pack your things, the next temple is a few hours away and we won’t be stopping.” Akashi stood up, and the others did the same, leaving to pack their belongings. Once the bags were loaded on the horses, Murasakibara lifted Himuro onto his horse before climbing up behind her. He kept one hand on the reigns and the other wrapped around Himuro’s waist.

“Muro-chin should be wearing riding clothes,” he commented.

Not minding the nickname, she responded “I don’t have anything else, Atsushi. Besides, what I’m wearing now is comfortable enough.”

Murasakibara hummed in return. And soon the group was galloping across the Teiko plains once more.

\-----

Nearly two hours later, the temple came into view. It was nearly identical to the last one, with sun stained marble dulling the once bright exterior. Dismounting, the group made sure the horses were secured properly before approaching the temple.  

“Himuro, do you know who we’ll find in here?” Midorima asked, as they walked inside.

Himuro shook her head. “Alone, I can only vaguely sense where the others are. I can’t tell who is here. Two or three of us together could confirm the identity of the one inside, but I can’t do it alone.”

“Then which room is she in?” Aomine asked, pressing one hand against his chest. What was that weird feeling? Was he getting sick?

Himuro closed her eyes and stood still for a moment. Then she opened them and pointed to a room to their right. “In there.”

The party moved into the new room and were greeted with a crystal very similar to the one Himuro was in, only this time it was a bright shade of yellow instead of violet. It radiated a bright, warm light.

“Oh, well speak of the devil,” Himuro said with a laugh. “It’s Ryouta.”

“You can tell?” Kagami asked.

“It’s the color. It’s the same color as her hair.”

Indeed it was; inside the crystal was a woman taller than Himuro by at least a few inches with long blonde hair and long bangs framing her pointed and flawless face. Her hands were pressed together as if in prayer, and was wearing a short cut dress that rested just above her knees. Even as she slept, she appeared to be smiling.

“Well,” Kagami said. “How do we know which one of us it is? And Aomine, dude, are you feeling alright? You’ve been holding your hand over your chest for the past, like, three minutes.”

“Eh, it’s nothing, I think. Fuck.”

“Daiki, what is it?” Akashi asked.

Aomine strode towards the crystal. “I think I’m starting to understand what Murasakibara meant when he said he felt a pulling sensation,” he said. He stopped right in front of it. “Sorry guys, I think this one’s mine.” And with that, he reached out and put one hand on the crystal’s surface. It began to glow, forcing the others to block their eyes again, and when the light cleared, Aomine was holding the woman, Kise, in his arms, with one wrapped around her waist and the other her shoulders. To Aomine’s surprise, she was already showing signs of waking up, and her eyes opened before he got the chance to lower her to the ground.

“Hey,” he said. Her eyes focused on him wearily.

“Hey,” she said right back. “What’s your name?” 

“Aomine Daiki.”

“Aomine... Daiki. You woke me up?” Her eyes widened. “Did you actually wake me?”

“Uh, yeah. I guess I did.”

Kise let out a happy squeal and threw her arms around Aomine’s neck, knocking him back a step. She laughed happily. “It worked! Oh Gods, I can’t believe it worked! I found my Knight!”

“Woah, hey, relax for a second. You just woke up, how the hell do you have this much energy?” Aomine kept both hands on her hips to steady her in case she fell over, but Kise seemed to be able to keep both feet under her.

She pulled back to look into his face, arms not leaving his neck. “I’m made of energy! So of course I’m going to be this awake even after waking up after- wait, how long was I asleep?”

“Almost 50 years.”

“50 years? Really? That’s so long!” Kise finally stepped back, though Aomine’s hands lingered to prevent her from falling. She surveyed the room, eyes landing on the rest of the group, and one face in particular. “Tatsuya-cchi!” She ran from Aomine’s side towards her friend, jumping on her and hugging her the same way she hugged Aomine. “Tatsuya-cchi, you’re awake too!”

“It’s good to see you again, Ryouta. Welcome back,” Himuro said, gently hugging Kise back.

 “That mean’s you’ve found your Knight too, then!” She looked up at Murasakibara. “Wow, you’re tall.”

“Thanks,” was all he said in response.

Aomine finally caught up to them. “Oi, let’s take this outside. Something tells me miss energy here is going to need to run around for a bit to blow off steam.”

“So mean! I’ll be fine!” Kise exclaimed, spinning around to stick her tongue out at him. But she spun to fast and her knees buckled, sending her down to the ground.

Aomine wanted to laugh at the comical expression of confusion on Kise’s face, but chose to just help her stand instead. “I told you that you were going to fall over, stupid.” He picked her up, one arm under her knees and the other around her back. Kise draped her arms over his shoulders.

“I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

The group made their way back to the horses, where they all settled on the ground and introduced themselves to Kise. She would smile at them all and greet them back, adding a “-cchi” to the end of all their names. When Kagami asked Himuro, she whispered back that it was just a thing Kise did, adding the suffix to the end of people’s names if she respected them. She said that it was “impressive, that you’ve all made such an impression on her so quickly”.

“So we’re the only two awake so far?” Kise asked once they were don’t explaining everything that had happened over the past couple days.

“Right,” Midorima said.

“Aww, I was hoping to see everyone again.”

“You’ll have to wait until the next few temples,” Akashi said. “And we can’t get the the other one today. It would be long past nightfall by the time we got to it and we can’t ride for long in the dark.”

“Oh, I could light the way!” Kise said, holding one hand palm up, wherein a small ball of yellow light formed. It was bright, but not enough that you needed to look away for fear of being blinded. “I can make it bigger and brighter too.”

“Thank you, Ryouta, but I think we’ll just settle here for the night. It will allow us to travel farther and faster tomorrow.” Akashi stood, and gestured to Midorima and Kagami. “Shintarou, Taiga, come with me to gather fire wood.” The two men followed him without complaining.

“You just wanted to leave them alone for a while, didn’t you?” Midorima asked Akashi. The red head just smiled knowingly.

\-----

There were two things Aomine Daiki cared the most about in this world. The first was his physical ability, his strength, speed, reaction time, things like that. He liked the fact that he was strong and could support and protect others. The other thing was women. He liked their figure, their wit and smarts, hell they even smelled good. Aomine loved girls. However, _this_ particular one was starting to get on his nerves. Out of all the people to end up with, his Maiden was a ceaseless ball of energy who immediately branded him with a stupid nickname and refused to leave his side. Part of him wondered why he didn’t end up with someone like Himuro; calm, relaxed, sort of motherly. Actually, scratch that last part, Murasakibara could have the motherly bit. Oh well, at least Kise had nice boobs.

“Hey, hey, Aomine-cchi! You’re an adventurer, right? Tell me about it! I want to hear about some of the stuff you’ve found!” Kise bumped her head against Aomine’s shoulder, a never ending smile plastered on her face. They were seated comfortably in the grass, Aomine relaxing against a tree with his hands behind his head as a cushion.

Aomine groaned, tilting his head to work out a kink that had formed. “We’re not that kind of adventurers,” he said. “We’re closer to thieves than we are adventurers. We steal things.”

“But still, you must have found some cool stuff!”

“Mine-chin was the one who found Muro-chin in the first temple the other day,” Murasakibara spoke up. He and Himuro were seated near another tree. Or rather, he was sitting, and she stood behind him, weaving flowers into his hair. She was already wearing a crown made of wild flowers.

Aomine laughed loudly. “Shit, Murasakibara, what are you doing?”

“Does Mine-chin want some too? Or is his hair too short?”

Himuro smiled, trying to conceal a giggle. “I think you’re right, Atsushi.”

“Shove off, I don’t want any flowers in my hair,” Aomine said. But he couldn’t help looking at Kise’s hair. It was really long, really shiny, and when his hand touched it, it was soft to the touch. Maybe if she got one of those crowns Himuro was wearing? He shook his head. What a stupid thought.

“Will you make me one, Tatsuya-cchi?” Kise asked, standing up. She brushed a few stray grass blades off of her dress. Aomine took a second to admire her legs. She was so tall, with a small torso and long legs. Part of Aomine wanted to sink his teeth into her skin, see what she tasted like. Fuck, what had gotten into him? This chick annoyed him to no end, where were these thoughts coming from?

“I’ll make you one in a bit. Let me finish with Atsushi first. There’s a field with flowers over there,” she said, gesturing to her right. “You could pick them for me if you want.”

“Sure!” Kise ran off into the field, tall grasses up to her knees tickling her legs as she walked. Kise began laughing, softly at first, then louder as she continued, eventually laughing with pure joy as she ran around in the field, flowers temporarily forgotten. “Aomine-cchi! Come join me!” she called. She was practically glowing, the sun reflecting off her hair creating a bright halo of light.

Aomine couldn’t help but stare. Okay, so maybe she was a little annoying. But he couldn’t deny he was still attracted to her. Standing up and complaining about how running in tall grasses was for children causing Kise to come and drag him in herself, Aomine could see himself getting used to this.


	3. History and the Hawk Princess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos are great, bookmarks are great, comments are great, and people keep leaving them! I'm so happy!
> 
> Updates might slow for a bit. Finals week is coming up and I've got a lot of projects that will take up most of my time. I'll try to keep typing at least, maybe make the next chapter extra long, but for now things will be slow.
> 
> This was five pages in the word file why does this chapter look so short?

Kagami swears that he’s never laughed harder in his life when he, Midorima, and Akashi came back from gathering wood and the first thing he saw was Kise, with a crown of flowers on her head, chasing Aomine around trying to stick one on his head as well, while Murasakibara and Himuro watched on, both with flowers on their heads.

“What the hell did I miss?” he laughed, standing near Murasakibara and Himuro after dropping the wood he’d gathered into a pile.

“It’s been very fun,” Himuro said. Kagami could see the smile on her face and her shoulders shaking from concealed laughter. “Ryouta wanted to give Daiki that crown but he refused. So she began to chase him.”

“They’ve been at it for almost five minutes,” Murasakibara said.

Akashi walked over to them. “It looks like you’re having fun, Atsushi,” he said.

“Does Aka-chin want flowers too? Muro-chin is very good at it.”

“No thank you.”

“What about you, Mido-chin?”

“Absolutely not,” Midorima said, pushing his glasses up father on his nose. “I would never participate in something so-” He was cut off as Aomine ran and hid behind him, putting his body between Aomine’s and Kise. Kise stopped in front of him and pouted.

“No fair hiding behind Midorima-cchi!” she said. She tried to duck around him, but Aomine grabbed Midorima’s arms and pulled him along with him. “Come on Aomine-cchi, it’ll be fun, I swear!”

“You truly have the most troublesome partner, Aomine,” Midorima said, annoyed. “And will you let go of me?” 

Kise put her hands on her hips, the flower crown hooked around her wrist. “That’s rude. I’m not the most troublesome.”

“You are a little,” Himuro said.

“No, if anyone it was Kazu-cchi! She’s way more troublesome than me!”

“Even Kazuko wasn’t as troublesome as you,” Himuro said. “I’m sure if Tetsuya was here she’d agree with me too.”

“Hey, don’t drag Kuroko-cchi into this!”

“I assume Kuroko is another Maiden?” Midorima asked.

“Yes, she is! The two of us grew up near each other and were really good friends!” Kise said.

“Tetsuya is the most level headed of us, which is why we found it strange when we first met and Ryouta was her best friend. Their personalities are nothing alike.” Himuro patted Murasakibara on the shoulder. “You can take them out if you want. You don’t have to leave them in.”

“Mm, just a bit longer,” he said, reclining in the grass.

“Just like you and Kise,” Kagami said to Aomine. “You’re nothing alike.”

“Makes me wonder who you’re gonna get, Kagami. I imagine it’d be someone who eats very little, considering how much food you pack away of a daily basis.” Aomine smirked, finally coming out from behind Midorima, and simply grabbing Kise’s wrists when she lunged and tried to get the crown on his head.

“Shut up asshole, no one asked you.”

“I think we’re all curious about who we’ll be partnered with,” said Akashi. “Ryouta, Tatsuya, would you mind telling us about them?”

“Sure,” Kise said. She yanked her wrists out of Aomine’s grasp and sat down in the grass, pulling him with her. The others all sat down, in a sort-of circle so they could all see each other. “So you already know a little about us, so I’ll skip over us for now. Let’s start with Kazu-cchi.”

“Takao Kazuko,” Himuro said. “Her personality is very similar to Ryouta’s, only she can be very serious when the situation calls for it. She’s a bit of a prankster as well.”

“She’s really in tune with nature, and when we were gifted our powers, her love of nature amplified into hers. So her power stems from all elements of nature: the plants, the animals, even life itself. If it’s alive, Kazu-cchi can control it. And she’s got this weird affinity for birds, so we sometimes call her the Hawk Princess.”

“She can communicate with animals and control plant life. She can make trees grow fifteen feet tall in seconds, even if the seed was just planted,” Himuro told them.

“Then there’s Kuroko-cchi, Kuroko Tetsuya. Like I said, the two of us grew up together. Our parents knew each other so we were at each other’s houses all the time,” Kise said. “She’s so cute! She’s shorter than all of us and has the prettiest blue eyes!”

“She’s also Ryouta’s antithesis, her opposite, in every way. They have contrasting personalities, different heights, hair colors, and such. So Tetsuya’s power was based on this. Like Ryouta is light, Tetsuya’s power comes from shadows.”

“But not darkness!” Kise insisted, seeing doubting looks on a few faces. “Kuroko-cchi’s the sweetest person you’ll ever meet, she wouldn’t hurt a fly!”

“Shadow is a tricky thing, because it needs light to survive. So Tetsuya’s powers depended on how well Ryouta’s were doing. The brighter the light, the darker the shadow.” She paused, looking at the three men without partners. “I’m confident, however, that whoever Tetsuya’s Knight is will provide that light for her instead.”

“And finally,” Kise said, “there’s Furihata Kouki. She’s the youngest of us all, and also the most plain. I mean that in the best way possible, but we were a little shocked at first when we were introduced to her. She’s very average.”

“There’s nothing spectacular about the way she looks, and she’s a very shy person, but I don’t blame that on her. I believe Kouki’s upbringing had something to do with it,” Himuro commented.

“What about it was so influential?” asked Kagami.

“She grew up in a poor farm home with parents who were very neglecting of her. We won’t go into full details,” Himuro said, seeing the question in Kagami’s eyes. “That’s not for us to tell. She’ll tell you all, and her Knight, when she’s ready.”

“Despite being average, though, Furi-cchi is a lovely person,” Kise stated. “She’s sweet and very kind. And despite all the things she’s lived through, she’s never given up.”

“Which fits with her power, which stems from the feeling of hope. She may be cowardly at times, but she stood up to The Dark One and only backed away when he attacked her directly. Kouki is very brave.”

Kagami mulled all the information over in his head for a moment. “So,” he contemplated, “based on that, who do you think we’ll be pared with?”

Himuro just shook her head. “I could guess, but you never know. I probably wouldn’t be correct.”

“We’ll have to wait and see,” Kise said with a smile.

\-----

After a night of rest the group began their travels to the next temple. They were up at dawn preparing, and were on the road before the sun rose to it’s full height. The winds were just starting to pick up, blowing hair and loose clothing with it. Birds dotted the sky, some small some large, and the numbers seemed to increase the closer they got to the temple.

“Oi, Kise,” Aomine said at one point when a particularly large bird flew over their heads. “You guys can sense where the others are now, right?”

Kise nodded from her position on the horse in front of him. “Yeah, with Tatsuya-cchi here we should be able to. Why?”

“You said that you called that one other girl the Hawk Princess. And I’m seeing an awful lot more birds than normal.”

Kise blinked, then looked up. There was an eagle flying around as well as a few small brown birds. “Now that you mention it, yeah. That’s a lot of birds.” She instructed Aomine to pull their horse along side Murasakibara’s and Himuro’s and called to the rest of the group to slow down. “Tatsuya-cchi, you’ve noticed the birds too?” Kise asked.

“I have. Give me your hand,” she said. The two joined hands and closed their eyes, a soft light beginning to glow where their hands were connected. The group sat in silence, watching and waiting until the glow faded and the girls opened their eyes with a smile.

“Gentlemen,” Himuro said happily. “I hope you’re ready to meet our Hawk Princess.”

They started up their run again, and within an hour arrived at the weathered temple. Kise and Kagami burst out laughing at the sight of it, Murasakibara chuckled, and even Akashi cracked a smile. Hundreds of animals and birds sat on or around the temple, with a large red tailed hawk staring down at them from the roof. They left their horses among the animals, confident that they wouldn’t run off, and waded into the sea of creatures.

“This is too funny,” Kagami said.  

“We told you Kazuko has a strange affinity for animals,” Himuro said. She reached out to gently pet the top of a deer’s head. The animal accepted it for a bit, but soon pulled back.

“Well then, shall we go?” Akashi said.

“Actually,” Midorima spoke up, “maybe it should just be me.”

“Shintarou?”

“I think it’s me. I feel that strange pulling sensation Murasakibara and Aomine mentioned. You all needn’t trouble yourselves if it’s not going to be you.” He turned to the temple. “I can go alone.”

“Alright.” Akashi motioned to the others to follow him as he walked back to the horses. “We’ll wait for you here. Don’t be too long.”

“I won’t.”

As he began to walk into the temple, Kise shouted “She’s in a room to the left somewhere!” He raised one hand to acknowledge that he heard her and continued inside. Taking a room to the left, once inside he found a similar scene to the first two temples, although this time he noticed a significantly larger amount of plant life growing from cracks in the floor and walls. Enough that he found himself stepping over vines and moss on his way towards a forest green crystal in the center of it all.

He had to admit to himself (never to anyone else and never aloud) that the woman inside was rather beautiful. Black hair cut short and bangs framing the side of her face, and a long dress similar to Himuro’s with a slit up the thigh and thin straps over her shoulders. He stood in front of her for a moment, just observing, before touching one bandaged fingertip to the surface. It glowed, and he noticed that, unlike before when he had to turn away due to how bright it was, this time he could keep his eyes open to watch as the crystal shattered and the girl, no, Takao Kazuko, emerged. He held his arms out, and she slowly fell into them.

She remained asleep, unlike Kise, but unlike Himuro showed no signs of waking up after a few moments either. He sat on the floor with her for a few minutes, but still she did not wake. Lifting her up, Midorima began to walk back outside. As troublesome as this whole thing was becoming, how tedious, and how much he was sure this Takao would be like another Kise, Midorima felt calm, more relaxed than he had felt in a long time.

Perhaps this could work after all.


	4. Of Birds and Fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How does one writers block?
> 
> Finals are next week. Pray for me. Next chapter won't be out until after that. But I'm glad that people are still excited for this fic, it makes me happy.
> 
> This was a hard chapter but it's done and I'm happy with it, so I hope you are too. Please enjoy!
> 
> Also Kagami and Akashi are total bros in this chapter. It just sorta happened. I ain't changing it.

While waiting outside for their companion to return the other members of the group relaxed in the grass soaking up the warm sunlight. Murasakibara and Himuro lay next to each other, Himuro’s head resting on Murasakibara’s arm as they dozed. Kise and Aomine shared stories of their lives, Kise telling stories of her childhood while Aomine told about adventures that he and the others had been on, the things they’d seen, and the artifacts they’d found. Akashi and Kagami looked on mostly in silence.  


“Taiga,” Akashi said, “have you noticed how close they have gotten over the last two days?”

Kagami nodded, observing Murasakibara pull Himuro closer to lay on his shoulder. “I kept thinking that it was weird, but I've started to notice how natural they seem. Like they’ve know each other their whole lives. Even Aomine has warmed up to Kise, even though she’s his exact opposite.”

Akashi nodded, smiling. “She will be good for him.”

“You have a theory, don’t you?”

“I do. Tatsuya mentioned that when they were gifted their powers the Gods also gifted them Knights. But they couldn’t find their Knights in that lifetime, 50 years ago. But they’re finding them, us, now. I think that our souls were promised to them because we are the ones who will bring out their powers even more. But something happened to our souls back then that caused us to not be born until this time.”

“That’s pretty deep,” Kagami said. “You’ve done a lot of thinking.”

“I wanted to understand what was happening to us.”

“I’m not dissing you, I’m just saying. I think you’ve got a point. I mean,” he gestured with his head to where Aomine was trying to pry Kise’s arms from around his neck and Murasakibara was lazily running his fingers through Himuro’s hair, “just look at them. If that doesn’t scream ‘soul mate’ then I don’t know what does. And we’re likely going to be just the same.”

Akashi couldn’t help but laugh a bit. “I can’t imagine you acting like this at all, Taiga.”

“I can’t imagine you either. So we’re even.”

The two laughed some more. Then Akashi said, “Taiga, I think the one called Kuroko Tetsuya will be yours.”

“What makes you say that?” Kagami asked.

“So far, those of us who have found their match are partnered with those who’s personalities are different from their own. Ryouta and Daiki are obvious, Atsushi and Tatsyua less obvious but still apparent, and soon Shintarou will come back with Takao Kazuko, someone who, to my understanding, is very lively and outgoing.”

“You’re right, that doesn’t sound like Midorima at all. But are you so sure that Kuroko will choose me?” Kagami sounded confused. “And by that logic, are you so sure that Furihata will choose you? Honesty she doesn’t seem like your type.”

“Considering how little we know about her I would say you’re right, but there was one thing Ryouta and Tatsuya said that stuck out to me, and that was that Furihata Kouki comes from a broken home. Who better for the woman who has nothing than the man who had everything?”

“Akashi...” Kagami trailed off. Akashi never spoke openly about his family, so hearing this from him was a bit of a shock. He shook his head. “Okay, I’ll believe you. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Wait and see indeed.” Akashi looked up at the temple entrance, then stood up. “Prepare a bedroll, Taiga. It looks like our guest isn’t awake yet.”

Kagami’s head swung around, and he saw Midorima emerging from the temple entrance, a figure in a long dress with short hair held princess-style in his arms. Kagami stood and ran to Midorima’s horse, his quick motions catching the attention of Aomine and Kise, the latter of which turned to wake Murasakibara and Himuro from their short nap. Kagami grabbed Midorima’s bedroll, muttering to himself that they’d need to stop in a town and buy more of these if this was going to continue. Once he’d unhooked it, he spread it out on the grass a ways away from the horse, just in time as Midorima approached. 

“Kazu-cchi!” Kise exclaimed at the sight of her friend. “Why isn’t she awake yet?”

“It’s okay, Ryouta,” Himuro said, laying a hand on her shoulder. “I wasn’t exactly coherent when I woke up either. Give her time. You forget that she was also unconscious when we were sealed. Remember?”

“She was?” Kagami asked. 

“Yes, The Dark One himself attacked her. She tried her hardest, but she couldn’t stay awake.”

Midorima laid Takao on the bedroll gently. The girl’s head lolled to the side, but still showed no signs of waking. “I don’t see any physical injuries on her,” he commented. “But I do see some scars.”

“From the fight, probably,” said Kise. “Didn’t she get scratched by one of the monsters, Tatsuya-cchi?” Himuro just nodded.

“Don’t worry Mido-chin,” Murasakibara said. “Muro-chin was stubborn waking up too. Your’s will be fine too.”

Himuro smiled, relaxing into Murasakibara’s side. “I wasn’t stubborn, Atsushi. I was tired. Besides, I woke up for a little while right away.”

“And fell asleep again right away. That doesn’t count Muro-chin.”

“Point is, she’ll be fine,” Kagami interrupted. “She’ll probably sleep for a few hours and then she’ll wake up. Give her time.”

Midorima just nodded. It was unusual for him to feel worried like this. Totally out of character for him. But if easing this feeling in his chest meant staying by Takao Kazuko’s side until she awoke, then so be it.

He would wait.

\-----

They waited for a rather long time. It wasn’t until the sun began to fall into the horizon that Takao began to show signs of waking. The others kept a respectful distance while Kise, Himuro, and Midorima stayed next to her. She had been letting out small whimpers and other little noises in her sleep and her fingers began to twitch. Himuro assured Midorima that it wouldn’t be long now.

And it wasn’t. Within minutes, Takao’s eyes cracked open a bit. She appeared disoriented and lethargic, but awake. A moment later, her eyes shot open wide, and she bolted upright, her breath coming in quick gasps. Eyes darting around wildly, she soon focused on Kise and Himuro, and they instantly knew something was off. Takao appeared scared, fear etched on her face. She reached for them with both hands, grabbing their upper arms.

“Ryou-chan, Tatsu-chan! What’s going on? Where are we?”

“Kazuko, it’s okay,” Himuro said gently. But she could tell it wasn’t. Takao had been unconscious when she was sealed, she had no idea the battle was over. In her mind, she was still on the battle ground.

“Where are the others? Furi-chan? Tetsu-chan? Why aren’t they here?” Takao cried. Midorima could see her getting more on edge by the second. Kise was looking over Takao’s shoulder at him, begging Midorima to do something. 

“You have to relax, Kazuko. Relax and listen to me.” Himuro seemed to be growing desperate too.

Midorima shifted closer to them, and gently pulled Takao’s hand off of Kise’s shoulder, loosely holding her fingers in his own. Takao froze at the contact; she wasn’t facing him so she couldn’t see who it was that was touching her, and in her state of panic she assumed the worst, that someone was trying to hurt her. But Midorima was gentle, caressing her fingers with his own. And as Takao turned around to look at him, he loosened his grip as to not scare her further. 

“Who... are you?” she asked, voice shaky.

“My name is Midorima Shintarou,” he said. 

“You... please tell me what’s going on. Where am I?”

Midorima pulled her away from the girls, holding both her hands in his. “Before I tell you, understand that you are safe now. There is no person here who is going to harm you in any way. Do you believe me?”

Takao nodded, then looked directly into his eyes, surprised. “Wait, are you my... Are you my Knight?”

“I am.”

“But how? I couldn’t find you before!”

Midorima shushed her. “I wasn’t alive then, Takao.” He squeezed her hands. “You fell unconscious, so you wouldn’t know, but Kise Ryouta sealed you and the other girls away in order to seal The Dark One. You weren’t powerful enough to defeat him on your own. That happened almost 50 years ago.”

 Takao gasped, shocked. “I slept for 50 years?” Midorima nodded. “I’m not at the battle anymore?” Another nod. “Then... I’m safe?”

“You are safe.”

She sighed, the tension visibly leaving her body as her shoulders slumped. She leaned forward, resting her head on Midorima’s shoulder. “I’m sorry for freaking out,” she said quietly.

“There is no reason to apologize. Your reaction is a normal one. It’s only natural that you would be shocked.”

“50 years passed. Has this land been peaceful?” she asked.

“It has. There has been no war, no disasters, for 50 years.”

“And The Dark One? He was sealed too?”

“Yes.”

“Our efforts weren’t for nothing,” she said to herself. She turned her head so she could look at Midorima’s face, smiling at him. “I never said thank you for waking me.”

“No need to thank me. It was only by chance that we stumbled upon you all to begin with.”

Takao lifted her head, looking over all the faces that were watching them. Himuro and Kise had moved back, sitting near two men that Takao assumed were their Knights. Two other men also sat nearby. They watched silently, but with small smiles on their faces. Takao’s face went a little red. “Um, I’m sorry. I didn’t notice you all.”

“That’s alright,” Kagami said. “You feel better? I can make you some food if you want.”

“Oh, sure.”

Kagami stood up, dusting off his pants. “Might as well make enough for everyone then. Who’s hungry?” A chorus of “me”s when up. Murasakibara looked positively giddy at the though of food, which made Himuro laugh. 

“Hey, hey, Kagami-cchi! Can I help?” Kise asked. “I used to make the meals for the five of us before.”

“Sure, why not?” Kise smiled happily and followed Kagami over to his rucksack that held ingredients for dinner. 

“You all get along well,” Takao commented.

“Some more than others,” said Midorima. 

“You don’t like them?”

“I tolerate them.”

Takao laughed. “It’s okay to admit you’re friends with someone, Shin-chan?”

“Shin-chan?”

“Yep. Shin-chan.”

“And why exactly are you calling me that?”

“Because,” she said, “it’s what I call everyone I like. Nicknames are easy to remember”

“So you won’t remember my name without one?” Where was this gentle teasing coming from? Since when did he behave like this, like a six year old fighting with his little sister? Midorima never fought with his family like this. 

“Oh I’ll remember! I could never forget, my memory’s too good!” Takao tapped one finger against her head as if that would prove how smart she was. “The ‘Hawk Princess’ nickname isn’t just for show! I’ve got a great memory, just like a hawk!”

“Kazuko, we gave you that nickname because of your animal affinity. Not because of your memory,” Himuro said. Kise snickered.

“Hey, my ability is cool! Don’t make fun of me!” Takao pouted, then smirked. “I think this calls for a little demonstration.”

“Kazuko,” Himuro warned.

But she wasn’t listening. Takao stood up, legs shaking. Midorima followed her, letting her use his shoulder as support. She held on tight to prevent herself from falling over and brought her other hand up to her lips. She placed her index finger and thumb against her mouth and let out a sharp whistle. It drew everyone’s attention as they waited to see what the whistle would bring. Seconds later, another sharp cry filled the air, this time a bird’s cry. Within moments a large hawk flew over the group’s campsite. It circled a few times, letting out another cry, before swooping down. Takao held out her arm as a perch, and the bird landed there.

“Takao!” Midorima exclaimed, shocked. 

“At least wear something over your arm for protection,” Himuro said, shaking her head. “They may like you but that won’t stop them from accidentally clawing you.”

“He’s not gonna claw me!” Takao said, scratching the bird of prey under it’s beak. “What a beautiful boy you are! And so nice too!” She turned back to Midorima, holding the arm with the hawk out to him. “Go on, try petting him!”

“I hardly think that’s appropriate. He may like you but that doesn’t guarantee he won’t bite me.”

“He won’t bite, I swear. Right?” She looked the bird in the eyes, a stern look on her face. “Don’t bite him, he’s a friend,” she said to it. The bird cocked his head to the side.

Midorima huffed, adjusting his glasses on his face. Nervously, he reached out and ran one finger across the top of the bird’s head. The hawk cooed, a gentle trill, and twitched it’s head as invitation to continue.

“See? Even he recognizes my Knight.” Takao gave the bird one last scratch on the belly before raising her arm up high, and the hawk flew off.

“That was so cool,” Aomine said. Kise bumped his shoulder with hers.

“Now you see where the nickname came from?” she said. 

“Does she do that often?” he asked her.

“Sometimes. Usually with some kind of protection on her arm. She doesn’t like to admit it, but she’s gotten clawed a few times and bitten a few more. They’re picky animals. But they can also be useful; since she can communicate with them, we used the birds to gather information for us leading up to the battle.” Kise sighed, relaxing into Aomine’s side. “Kazu-cchi’s something, don’t you think?”

“Sure,” Aomine agreed. Face red, he looked away. “But so are you.”

Kise looked up at him, shocked. Then she smiled warmly, and brought her arms up to circle his neck. “Aww, Aomine-cchi’s so sweet!”

“Shut up.” But there was no bite in his words, so Kise just continued to smile.

“Kaga-chin, Aka-chin, you need to get your partners too. They make people happy,” Murasakibara said. The two laughed, Kagami’s the loudest, and Himuro joined in as well.

“Food’s ready!” Kagami called once he had composed himself. They gathered around the fire he had made and distributed plates of food among themselves. Conversation was struck up and soon they were all in good spirits, a welcome feeling after such a long day.

“We should stop at the nearest town before going to the next temple,” Akashi had said. “We need to pick up more supplies.”

“What do we need?” Midorima asked, allowing Takao to steal some of the pickled vegetables off his plate since he didn’t really like them. He was usually the one who managed the group’s money in order to allocate their spending and resources.

“Some more dried meat and vegetables. As well as a few more bedrolls. We only have enough for us five, and as the nights get pretty cold this time of year I would rather not have anyone sleeping on the grass. I will not have anyone falling ill.” 

“Muro-chin can sleep with me,” Murasakibara said around a mouthful of food, pulling said woman closer to his chest where she sat in his lap. Himuro just shrugged her shoulders, and said something to him about not talking with his mouth full. 

“She already is anyway,” Aomine said, pointing his chopsticks at him. “She’s been attached to your side since she woke up.”

“Daiki, don’t be rude,” Akashi said. “You haven’t exactly been very far from Ryouta at any given time.”

“That’s because, knowing this idiot, if I let her get too far she’d probably hurt herself. She’s got no off switch and would probably fall off a cliff if I wasn’t around to catch her.”

“You’re so mean! I’m right here!” Kise said angrily. 

“You’re not denying it though.”

“I would not walk off a cliff! I’m not _that_ unobservant.”

“Ryou-chan, you just admitted to being unobservant,” Takao said mischievously, and Kise let out an exasperated “uuuuuugh” and went back to her food, trying to ignore Aomine’s laughter.

“You guys are no fun. At least Kuroko-cchi doesn’t laugh at me.”

“You’re right, but that’s only because she’s usually the one to make fun of you in the first place,” Takao said. “Just because you’re childhood friends doesn’t mean she has to back you up on everything.”

“I get a feeling I’m going to like this Kuroko,” Aomine said. 

“Oh Tetsu-chan is impossible to _not_ like,” Takao told him. “There’s something about that blank stare that just gets you every time.”

Midorima looked on, a small smile on his face. He usually thought of himself as the kind of person who didn’t get along with people well. With the exception of his family, people tended to stay away from him. They thought he was too weird, too strange, and thus dubbed him a freak and someone they should stay far away from. He had considered himself very lucky to even have friends in the first place, however weird they were as well. To think that he would meet a girl who didn’t think him strange and wanted to be by his side, someone who was fated to meet him, was a thought he still could not comprehend. And he found himself feeling... happy.

So, very happy indeed.


	5. Old Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was my birthday yesterday! (May 21st) I'm 19 now!
> 
> Okay I apologize this is a bit of a filler chapter. No new temples in this chapter. Next one, I promise.
> 
> It's also really short. Again, sorry. 
> 
> Next chapter, whenever I finish it, will be longer, but I need to do some research first (get hype).

After a good night’s rest and a hearty breakfast the ever growing party set out on horseback, this time not for a temple, but for a village a little ways to the north. It was a town that the adventurers had visited many times to restock for supplies, called Seirin. Kagami had spent a few years living in Seirin when he was younger and had grown close to a few of the residents. Upon arriving, they left the horses tied to some posts and traveled into the heart of the town, entering a small building with a sign out front saying “Welcome!”.

“Hyuuga-senpai!” Kagami called when he entered. “Are you here?”

“Kagami? Is that you?” A short, brown haired woman peaked out from the other side of a door. “It’s been so long!” She ran out and the two exchanged a quick hug. “And you brought everyone with!”

“It’s good to see you Riko,” said Midorima. “How have the two of you been?”

“Swell! Look!” Riko held out her left hand, a small silver banded ring on her finger. “He finally proposed! He kept stuttering and starting over before he finally got it out.”

“I wasn’t that bad,” a black haired man said as he came out of the back room. “I at least managed to get it all out. It’s good to see you all again.”

“Good to see you too, Hyuuga-senpai,” Kagami said.

“I told you to drop the senpai.”

“Anyway,” Riko interrupted before they could go off, “What can we do for you guys today?”

“We need five bedrolls, please.” Akashi said, handing her a small sack of coins.

“Coming right up. Did you guys ruin yours again?” she said as she disappeared into the back room.

“No, they’re not for us,” Kagami said.

Hyuuga finally took note of the three extra members of their little party. “Oh, I apologize. I was so caught up in seeing you again that I didn’t notice your friends.” He held his hand out to them, and one by one the women shook it. “My name is Hyuuga Junpei. The woman in the back is Aida Riko, my fiancé.”

“A pleasure to meet you as well, Hyuuga-san,” Himuro said. “My name is Himuro Tatsuya. This is Kise Ryouta, and this is Takao Kazuko.” The two said hello as well.

“It’s nice to see these guys finding other friends,” Riko said as she came back, five large bedrolls in her arms. Hyuuga quickly took a few to lighten the load. “The whole ‘adventuring’ thing tends to leave people very isolated. These guys especially.”

“Come on, stop teasing us,” Kagami laughed.

While the small space of the shop made for a crowded gathering area, the friends found it comfortable as they chatted about their lives and things that had happened to them since they had last seen the happy couple. Although they chose to leave out the whole “we’re awakening the ancient Holy Maidens in hopes to stop The Dark One once and for all” thing. How does one even begin a conversation like that?

While Kise and Takao were plenty comfortable speaking with everyone, Himuro chose to hang out near the window and watch her friends interact. Murasakibara would look over every so often from where he was standing near Akashi to make sure she was okay, and she would smile at him and nod. Looking out the window and watching the people walk by was enough for her.

Since her power stemmed from an emotion rather than a physical aspect such as Takao’s natural powers, her magic and abilities were very difficult to explain. But as she watched the people of Seirin go about their lives, she felt less and less subconscious about the legitimacy of her powers. Children played with each other, couples walked by holding hands and laughing, a young man helped an older woman with her bags. Watching their interactions, Himuro could feel her heart swell with happiness and pride. To be a guardian, to be a person who represents such a precious emotion... who could ask for anything better?

It was then that she saw someone. A person she long believed to be gone.

“Muro-chin?” Murasakibara said when she suddenly turned to look out the window at a better angle, an expression of confusion and questioning on her face. “What’s wrong?”

“Tatsuya-cchi?” Kise asked.

“It’s Alex,” Himuro said quietly.

“What?” Takao exclaimed.

“It’s Alex.” Himuro left her spot by the window and ran out the door, sub-consciously noting Murasakibara running after her. But her eyes were focused only on an older woman with long gray hair walking down the road in front of her. “Alex!” she called, and the woman turned around.

Upon seeing who was calling to her, the old woman’s facial expression changed to shock. Her eyes began to water, and she reached out one wrinkled hand to her. “Tatsuya? Is that really you?” she asked.

Himuro, finally reaching her, took her hand in hers. “Alex, you’re still alive,” she said happily. “I can’t believe it.”

“That should be my line,” Alex said fondly. She gently touched her other hand to Himuro’s cheek as if to prove to herself that the girl standing in front of her was real. “You look the same as you did 50 years ago. You don’t look a day over 18.”

Murasakibara finally caught up, standing a few feet behind the women and watching silently. The two women hugged each other tightly, and that was when Murasakibara noticed people staring as they walked by. He moved forward and put a hand on Himuro’s shoulder. “Muro-chin, people are staring at you,” he said. “We should go inside.”

Himuro pulled back and nodded, offering her arm to Alex to help support her. She took the girl’s arm happily and Murasakibara escorted them back into Riko and Hyuuga’s shop.

“No way!” Kise said upon them entering the shop again. “Alex! It really is you!”

“Ryouta and Kazuko,” Alex said, accepting the hug Kise gave her. “It’s good to see you again. Where are the others?”

“They haven’t woken up yet,” Takao said.

Alex seemed confused. She sat down in the chair Riko offered her. “Woken up? We were under the impression that you had all fallen in battle. None of us had any idea you were still alive.”

“Ryouta sealed them all in order to seal The Dark One,” Akashi said. He reached out his hand for her to shake. “It’s nice to meet you, miss Alex. I am Akashi Seijurou.”

“A pleasure. I am Alexandra Garcia. Please call me Alex. Were you the one who woke my friends up?”

“Not me, at least, not yet. It was those three,” he said, gesturing to Murasakibara, Aomine, and Midorima. They introduced themselves to her.

Alex couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “So,” she said, “you’ve finally found your Knights.”

“You know about that?” Aomine asked.

“I knew everything. I was good friends with Tatsuya when we were small children. I was the first person outside of the other girls that she told when she was first given her Maiden powers. We’ve been very close. And when the battle happened...” she trailed off for a bit. “When the battle happened, when it was all over and The Dark One was gone, we thought for sure all five of you had died. We couldn’t find your bodies.”

“Wait, really?” Takao said. “Then how did we end up in the temples?”

“That’s where you were?”

“Yeah.”

“We built those to commemorate the fall of The Dark One and the fall of the Five Holy Maidens, but we left them empty on purpose.”

“Strange...” Midorima muttered.

“Wait, wait!” Riko interjected. “What is going on here? What do you mean ‘Maidens’?” Hyuuga was also looking at them in a confused way.

“We’re sorry, Riko, Hyuuga,” Himuro said. “We didn’t mean to leave you out of the conversation.”

“Riko, do you remember me telling you stories of how I was friends with the Holy Maidens before they became the Holy Maidens?” Alex asked. Riko nodded. “These people are them. These three are some of the Holy Maidens from legend.”

“What! That’s impossible! The legends say they died that day!”

Takao laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck. “Wow, really? That’s a little harsh. It’s weird hearing that when I’m standing right here.” Kise nodded, hiding her laugh behind her hand.

“How did you not recognize our names?” Kise asked.

“Nobody uses your names when retelling the legend. It’s all “The Holy Maiden of Light” or “The Holy Maiden of Hope” and so on,” Hyuuga said, his voice sounding very sarcastic as he said the titles. It caused Kise to laugh even harder.

“Oh God, please never call me that again,” she said though her laughter.

“So you really are them?” Riko asked.

“We are.” Himuro said.“It’s a very long story.”

“We’ve got time.”

\-----

“Okay so let me get this straight; you weren’t able to beat The Dark One on your own, without your Knights, so you sealed him away instead. But in doing so you sealed yourselves and somehow ended up from the battle field to the temples Teiko built and slept there, incased in crystal, for 50 years until these idiots arrived by pure chance and woke you up. And now you’re traveling to the other temples to wake the other two up.”

“That’s the gist of it, yeah,” said Takao.

“Okay no I have two questions. The first is-” Riko cut herself off to whack Kagami upside the head. “Why the hell did you not tell us sooner!”

“We weren’t around!” Kagami yelled.

“And second!” she continued without bothering to answer him, her tone suddenly serious, “How do you know that by waking the others up again won’t break the seal on The Dark One? If sealing him meant sealing yourselves, won’t undoing that wake him up? That’s the last thing the world needs.”

Himuro sighed, relaxing into Murasakibara’s side from where she stood near Alex. “No, you’re right. Once all of us are awake again, it’s only a matter of time before The Dark One reawakens as well.”

“But we’ll be ready for him this time,” Takao insisted. “We’re not alone anymore. We have our Knights this time.”

“Ah, yeah, about that,” Aomine said. “What exactly is our role again? We’re supposed to enhance your powers, but how do we do that?”

“It’s not really something we can explain,” Kise told him. “It’s... well, it’s one of those ‘you’ll know how to do it when it happens’ kind of things.”

“That doesn’t help.”

“How am I supposed to tell you if I don’t know myself!”

“Children,” Akashi warned.

Alex laughed quietly. “You have very spirited friends, Tatsuya.”

“Thank you Alex. I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Will you leave soon? You still have two more girls left.”

“Perhaps. But Kouki and Tetsuya can wait a little bit longer. I haven’t seen you in a long time, I want to know about your life.”

“That can wait, Tatsuya. You have a very important job to do. And you,” she said directed at Murasakibara “you have to protect her, keep her safe. She’s a free spirit but a loving one. Do not leave her side.”

“I won’t,” he said.

“Come on you guys, you’re embarrassing me.” Himuro’s face went a bit red.

For the rest of the day and well into the evening the large entourage shared stories and told jokes of the old days, choosing to ignore the imminent threat of possible destruction looming over their heads and focusing on the good in their lives. Of friends new and old and adventures to be had. And as they settled down for the night on the floor of Riko and Hyuuga’s shop, despite the future not looking so bright, everyone fell asleep with smiles on their faces.


	6. The Prince and the Pauper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I. Am. So done.  
> With college. I'm done with college.  
> I'm free for the summer, that's what I meant. 
> 
> So I finally got this done? It took a lot longer than I thought, but for good reason. The first bit of this chapter I was so impressed with I had to sit back and go "Whoa, I wrote this". 
> 
> But it's out now, and I'm happy with it! To everyone who's been asking when Furihata comes in, this is it! But only at the end. More interaction next chapter.

Sunrise the next morning saw ten bodies sleeping soundly on the floor of a small home, nestled together in one big pile. Akashi, ever the early riser, woke when the first rays of the sun peaked though the curtains and sat up from his position near the middle of the pile. Smiling fondly, he observed all of the people he considered his family as they continued to sleep.

Kagami was sprawled out near the edge, a blanket tangled around his legs and arms spread wide, one hand resting on the side of Aomine’s face. The blue haired man lay on his side, Kise laying next to him, her head cushioned on his arm. Hyuuga and Riko were next to them. Midorima and Takao slept with their foreheads pressed together, their fingers interlaced. Murasakibara was closest to him, spooning Himuro, face pressed into her neck and arms wrapped tightly around her as she slept with a small smile on her face. 

Akashi wondered to himself; if he had known all those years ago that this is where he would be by the time he was 18, would he have laughed it off as a misconception or would he have believed it. If he had know that these people would become his new family, that he would have such a strong desire and will to protect them because he actually _cared_ about someone other than himself. Would his past self had believed it? Akashi shook his head. Probably not.

Before he had set off with the people that would become his friends, he had been the only son of a high ranking noble from Teiko’s capital city, Rakuzan. He had been groomed from birth to take over his father’s position, to become a member of the Rakuzan court. Looking back on his past self, he was snobbish and disrespectful of those who were deemed lower status than him. Until the day he was kidnapped by people who wanted revenge against his father. They had held him captive for three days before someone finally rescued him, a tall, loudmouth of a boy who couldn’t be older than him. 

The boy had looked at him in pure shock before snapping into action and cutting him lose of his bindings. In a panicky voice he told him that he hadn’t expected to find anyone here. He had intended to rob the place, a poor boy living on the streets barely surviving on scraps, hoping to find something of value to sell in order to buy his own food. He had pulled Akashi onto his back; weak from three days of little food and water he could barely stand on his own, so he accepted the help with little protest. It was then, as they ran out of the small hut and back towards the heart of Rakuzan, that the boy identified himself as Kagami Taiga. He had recently traveled to Rakuzan to look for work, but had ended up on the streets. 

Akashi, under normal circumstances, would have never associated himself with such a person, with such a lowlife. But given all that had happened, all he had been through, he listened patiently as Kagami talked to keep him awake, didn’t protest when Kagami stopped and set him down to check for any injuries, and allowed the red head to take care of him for the night. That night, as he slept on the ground with a thin pillow and a even thinner, yet soft, blanket, was the best sleep he ever had.

It wasn’t until after Kagami helped him back home the next morning that he realized he didn’t know how to thank him. What could he possibly give to the person who made him realize that his life wasn’t what it seemed? The only thing he could think of, as Kagami bid him farewell as maids and butlers rushed to get him inside, was to give the boy the proper title of “friend”.

His father had wanted Akashi to never associate with Kagami Taiga again, but Akashi couldn’t do it. He needed to see this person again, he wanted to learn more about the world outside of the noble culture he was so accustomed to. And along the way he met others, Aomine Daiki, Murasakibara Atsushi, and Midorima Shintarou. The five of them became nearly inseparable. And for the first time in a long time, Akashi felt truly happy. 

Until his father screwed it all up.

He gave Akashi an ultimatum: either he continued in his father’s footsteps and abandoned all ties with his “friends”, or he would disown him and force him to leave Rakuzan and never return.

Akashi chose the latter. Late that night he packed only a few of his belongings and left his father’s house, joining Kagami and the others for the night. The next morning they used some of the money Akashi had brought to buy horses for each of them and travel supplies and they set out of Rakuzan, never once looking back. 

They were 13 years old.

Over the next five years they trained their bodies to be strong and agile, became proficient at the sword and bow, and traveled all over Teiko in search of treasure and adventure. They went to cities large and small and met all kinds of people. And even now, at age 18 with five years of experience under his belt, Akashi could never, ever, have imagined something like this happening to them. 

At 18 years old, his friends were finding love. And he found himself very happy for them.

Yet at the same time he was nervous. Akashi Seijurou was nervous. Nervous for when the day would come that he would have someone by his side as well. Would he be good to her? Would she be afraid of him? What if he hurt her? So many ideas ran through his head, so many “what if” scenarios that didn’t help with the anxiety. If his calculations were correct (and they usually were, they didn’t call him a genius for nothing) he was likely to be paired with Furihata Kouki. The Holy Maiden of Hope. The title sounded so grand for someone with such average stature.

Oh who was he kidding. There was nothing average about someone who was gifted with magic from the Gods. There had to be something about her that proved her worthiness to them. She was extraordinary, just like the others. In what way, Akashi did not know just yet.

_“She grew up in a poor farm home with parents who were very neglecting of her. We won’t go into full details,” Himuro said, seeing the question in Kagami’s eyes. “That’s not for us to tell. She’ll tell you all, and her Knight, when she’s ready.”_

So she was neglected. In what form? Akashi tried to run every scenario through his head but he had no idea which one was correct. He would have to wait until she told him. But he remembered his words from the other day-

Who better for the woman who has nothing than the man who had everything?

\-----

Never let anyone tell you that Kagami Taiga was a dense man. He may be a bit oblivious, sure, but not dense. He could tell when people were feeling certain emotions and thinking about unnecessary things. And right now he could tell that Akashi was experiencing these exact symptoms. He pretended to sleep for a while longer while Akashi reminisced about the past, but soon settled on just watching him. The look on Akashi’s face told him everything he needed to know, exactly what Akashi was thinking about. He sat up slowly, removing his hand from where it had flopped on Aomine’s face overnight, and began to crawl over the pile of bodies sleeping on the ground to get closer to his friend.

“How long have you been awake?” Akashi asked as he sat down next to him.

“A little while. Long enough to see you thinking too hard again. Was it about your dad?”

“Sort of. About my father, and about how far we’ve come since we met.”

Kagami laughed quietly. “I’ll say. You’re not the little brat I found in the shed anymore.”

“I resent that. I have never been a brat.”

“You were such a brat, don’t deny it.” Kagami nudged his shoulder with his own. “Relax, Akashi. You’re not that person anymore. You’re your own man. And a damn good one.”

Akashi smiled softly. “Thank you, Taiga.”

“What for?”

“For saving me that day.”

“There’s no need to thank me. I would’ve done it no matter who was in there. It’s what a rational person would do.”

Akashi shook his head. “I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“Aka-chin, you’re too depressing in the morning,” Murasakibara’s groggy voice said. The two looked over to him where he was rubbing his eyes as he awoke. He hadn’t sat up yet, choosing to cuddle Himuro a little longer. 

“I’m sorry, Atsushi. Did we wake you?”

“No, I woke up by myself. I don’t want to move. Muro-chin’s really warm.” 

Akashi smiled and sighed. “Atsushi?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you love her?”

Murasakibara didn’t say anything at first. He looked down at Himuro’s sleeping face and smiled. “Yeah, I think I do. I think I love Muro-chin.”

“Then that’s good,” Akashi said. “Take good care of her.”

“I will.”

Himuro made a small noise and cracked her eyes open a bit. “Good morning,” she whispered. 

“Morning, Muro-chin.” Murasakibara nuzzled her hair with his nose. 

“Am I going to be able to get up or do you plan on keeping me here all day?” she said, looking to where his arms held her tight.

“He’ll have to let go eventually, we need to get going sometime before midday.” Akashi stood up slowly. His legs hurt from laying on the floor for so long. Dusting himself off, he looked around the pile of people to see if anyone was awake. Aomine was running his fingers through Kise’s hair, still half asleep, and Midorima was just sitting up, trying not to wake Takao. 

“I have never seen you so comfortable, Murasakibara,” Kagami said. 

“Muro-chin is really warm,” he mumbled, causing Himuro to laugh. 

“We need to get up, Atsushi,” she said.

“I don’t want to." 

“Don’t fight us Murasakibara we need to get going if we’re gonna make it to the next temple today,” said Kagami.

“No,” the giant whined.

Himruo turned her attention to Kagami. “I’ll get him up, don’t worry.”

“Good luck.”

“Kagami-cchi is very loud,” they heard Kise whine. “We’re trying to sleep.”

“It’s morning, Kise, you need to wake up too." 

Akashi laughed a bit. They may be weird, but they were his friends, what could you do?

\----- 

The party said goodbye to Riko and Hyuuga a little while later, setting out before the sun rose to its full height. It took less than a hour of travel to get to the temple. It sat right out in the open in a field, long grasses swaying in the gentle breeze. The horses were left to wander as they took all their packs off their backs, taking time to bask in the warm sun and enjoy themselves. The group was also enjoying themselves; Kise was running around with Takao while their respective partners looked on, wondering how they could have so much energy. Murasakibara had laid down for a nap, and Himuro sat by him, combing her fingers through his hair and telling him not to sleep for too long.

Meanwhile Kagami and Akashi made their way into the temple. They looked into the rooms one by one until they found the right one. A pale red crystal sat in the middle, with a long brown haired girl inside. Akashi pressed one hand over his heart. So that’s what it felt like. Like a constant pressure tightening around his heart, gripping him and pulling him closer. It wasn’t unpleasant, just, oh what was the word... unique, that might be it.

Kagami looked over his shoulder at him. “Looks like you were right. This one’s not mine.” 

“It’s me,” Akashi said. He stepped forward and patted Kagami’s arm. “Could you leave us, Taiga? I’d like to do this alone.”

“Yeah, no problem.” Kagami began to walk out, before turning back and saying “Be gentle, okay? Don’t scare her too bad.”

“I would never.”

“Sure you wouldn’t.” And with that, and a loud bombastic laugh, Kagami left.

Akashi took a deep breath and stepped closer to the crystal. The woman inside was, in accordance with the other girls’ description of her, average. Long brown hair, not tall but not short, and although her eyes were closed Akashi could assume they were brown. She wasn’t beautiful like Himuro or Kise, but Akashi couldn’t stop staring at her. The gripping sensation in his heart lessened as he moved closer, and without anymore hesitation he stuck his hand out and pressed it against the barrier. It began to glow brightly, and Akashi shielded his eyes for a moment before taking his chances and looking into the light. It didn’t hurt his eyes like he thought it would, and in a second it was over and Furihata Kouki slowly drifted to the ground. 

Akashi knelt by her side and shifted her so her head was resting in his lap. He tried to keep contact to a minimum in case she woke up and panicked. He sat there for only a minute before her fingers twitched and she let out a small groan and opened her eyes a bit. Akashi was right, they were brown.

“Good morning,” Akashi whispered softly. Her eyes focused on him and widened in surprise. She tried to move away but could only shift slightly, her muscles unused to movement after being asleep for so long. Akashi shushed her, bringing one hand up to touch her shoulder. “It’s alright, you are safe.”

“...ah.” She tried to speak, but it looked like she couldn’t get the words out. 

“Hush, it’s okay. You are safe, I’m not going to hurt you. Your name is Furihata Kouki, right?” Akashi ran his fingertips up and down on her bare skin and spoke slowly. The woman was beginning to shake from fear and he needed to calm her down. “My name is Akashi Seijurou. You have nothing to fear, you are not where you think you are anymore.”

Furihata breathed in deeply and slowly, trying to calm herself. “Where?” she asked.

“You’ve been asleep for a very long time,” Akashi told her. He would save all the details for later, when she was more coherent. “The battle is over, and you are safe now. The others are waiting for you. Do you want to go outside?”

She nodded slowly, and Akashi slipped out from under her. He reached under her back and lifted her into a sitting position, while she gripped his shirt with one hand. He guided her arms around his neck and gently lifted her into his arms. She wasn’t much shorter than him, he noticed, maybe only a couple of centimeters. “You’ll be alright,” he told her again as he began to walk out of the temple. “You’ll be okay. We’ll all be.”

 


	7. Welcome Back to the World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY. Summer's been busy and I had mild writers block on this chapter. It took too long and it's too short, I'm sorry.
> 
> I promise that next chapter will be longer (and better??).
> 
> So enjoy this chapter for now. I go on vacation next week and might be able to write the next chapter while I'm there. When I'm not going swimming in the lake. (It's like 80 degrees here and humid it's miserable).

Akashi hesitated at the door, watching the light filter in thought it. It was well after midday, the sun was still high in the sky and shining brightly. He looked down at the young woman he was carrying, barely awake and gazing at the door, blinking to combat the bright light. 

“Is it too bright?” he asked. She clung tighter. “We’ll go slow. Close your eyes.” 

He stepped slowly out the door, Furihata’s eyes tightly shut, and stopped on the first step. Cautiously she opened her eyes, immediately shutting them again because it was too bright. Akashi coaxed her to try again, slowly, and she did, this time managing to open her eyes farther. She gazed out over the plains, watching the grasses blowing in the breeze. To Akashi, she looked confused, but he was sure there was also happiness as well. 

He stopped walking when they got to the grass and gently set her down on her feet. He kept his hands on her arms to keep her steady but let her try to stand on her own. Glancing over to where the others were waiting, Akashi noticed that no one had taken notice of them, too busy doing whatever it was they were doing. Perfect. That gave him time to help Furihata adjust to the new world she had stepped into.

She was smiling, a small smile but smiling none the less. She practiced taking a few steps in the grass before slowly kneeling down, Akashi’s hands still on her arms. Once she sat down, she ran her hands through the long blades of grass and sighed happily. Akashi noticed something wasn’t right when she gripped the blades tight in her fists.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her.

She took a deep breath and let out a loud sigh. “When... when did everything become so... peaceful?” she whispered, voice shaky.

“What is the last thing you remember?” Akashi repositioned himself so he was in her line of sight at all times. 

“I remember darkness. I remember _him_ and his army attacking. I remember being hit with something, but after that, it’s... blank.” She lowered her head, curling in on herself. “What happened that day?”

“I’m sorry. I can’t answer that.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t answer you because I was not there.” Akashi pulled one of her hands away from where it gripped the grass and holding it in his. “Furihata Kouki, you have been asleep for a long time. It’s been 50 years since the day you battled with The Dark One.”

Furihata gasped and froze. Her breath seemed to stop in her throat and Akashi gripped her hand tighter, trying to send her some comfort as she processed the information he had given her. “No...” she whispered. “That’s not possible.”

“It is. You have very talented friends.”

“Who was it?”

“Ryouta.”

Furihata took a few deep breaths. “It’s too much,” she said. “I-I can’t _process_ this much at once-”

“It’s alright, you don’t have to.” Akashi took a bold step and pulled the frightened girl closer, her head resting on his collar and hand held tightly in Akashi’s grasp. “You don’t have to know everything right now. Just know that you are safe now, and so are your friends.” He gestured towards the others. “Look, they are all fine.”

The brunette looked up, eyes glassy, and followed Akashi’s motion. She focused on her fiends, her fellow Maidens, and saw how comfortable they looked. Himuro knelt by a man with purple hair, Kise ran in circles around a tan skinned man, and Takao lay draped across the back of a tall man with glasses. They were all smiling, and Furihata found herself wishing she could join them. But how? Everything around her felt so unnatural and wrong; it wasn’t the world she remembered.

Yet there was also this presence that brought comfort, that commanded authority. She knew she had never met this man up until just moments ago but being around him felt so _right_. So this is what it felt like to have a Knight. It was hard to describe that sense of protection with words. Furihata had never felt this safe in her life.   

“I want to see them,” she whispered. Akashi nodded and helped her stand, slowly. His hand never let hers go.

“Then let’s go.”

\----- 

Kagami always thought himself a smart man. Maybe not school smarts, considering he’d dropped out fairly early, but street smarts. Living in the dirt tended to make a person wiser about how the world and its people worked. So while he may not be as cunning as Akashi or as brainy as Midorima, he believed that he understood people as _people_ better than anyone. 

So when he caught a glimpse of Akashi carrying a small brown haired woman out of the temple, he immediately sensed the need for space. He watched out of the corner of his eyes to make sure they were all right, but didn’t tell the others of their arrival. Not yet anyway. If Akashi and Furihata needed space, he’d give it to them.  

“You idiot!” Aomine’s voice brought him out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see him staring with an annoyed expression at Kise, who lay face first in the dirt. “Don’t run around so much, you klutz. You keep tripping over your own feet.”

“Typical Ryou-chan,” Takao laughed from where she lay, draped over Midorima’s back, much to his annoyance. “She’d trip over thin air given the chance.”

“Will you get off of me?” Midorima mumbled.

Kise stood up and tried to brush the dirt off the front of her dress. She looked down and pouted. “Aww, my leg’s all scraped up now. Midorima-cchi do you have something for this?”

“Yes, but I’m not helping you.”

“You’re all so mean to me! Fine. Aomine-cchi, can you help me?”

Aomine grumbled, but stood up anyway and grabbed a bandage from Midorima’s huge medical bag. Kagami wanted to laugh. Aomine was so whipped. 

Himuro sat down next to him, having moved from Murasakibara’s side now that he was asleep. “I’m glad they get along,” she said. 

“Get along? Or tolerate? There’s quite the big difference.”

“You’ve noticed, right? Those two sitting near the stairs over there?” The glanced over their shoulders towards Akashi and Furihata, who appeared to be having a conversation and weren’t paying attention to them. “She looks nervous.”

“I would be too if I woke up from a 50 year sleep. I’m surprised you didn’t freak out. You’ve still got the same poker face.”

“It’s not a poker face. It’s just my nature.”

“Sure it is.”

“Should we do something? Should we go get them?”

“Nah, let Akashi handle it,” Kagami said. “We don’t consider him our leader for nothing. He’s a natural leader. That’s in _his_ nature.”

Himuro laughed, nearly doubling over. “You- you were waiting for that!”

“And you fell for it. But seriously, they’ll be fine. She’s safe with him.”

“I just... I’m so worried. So many bad things have happened to her I’m scared that this is going to set her back again.” Himuro pulled her knees up to her chin.

“Akashi isn’t exactly without bad memories either. He acts tough but he’s probably the best person to deal with this.”

“What happened?”

“Akashi used to be a noble in Rakuzan’s court.”

Himuro gasped. “Rakuzan? The capital? What’s he doing out here?”

“We were all 13, and he got himself kidnapped by people who wanted to extort money from his father. I found him tied to a pipe inside an old shack when I went to rob it. Three days had already passed.” Kagami stared off into the sky. “He didn’t look like a noble sitting there on the ground, he looked like a lost kid, and there was no way I could leave him there.”

“You’re very kind, Taiga.”

“We became friends after. He ran away with us when his father tried to keep him from ever seeing us again. We’ve all been exploring together since." 

Himuro glanced back over at Murasakibara’s sleeping form. “You make a good team,” she said. 

Kagami tried to hide the fact that his face was turning red. “Ah, thanks.” He quick looked over his shoulder to check on Akashi, and saw him guiding Furihata over to them. “They’re on their way over.”

Standing up, Himuro said, “I’ll go warn the others. It would be best for Ryouta and Kazuko to not crowd her right away.” 

“Good idea.” Kagami stood up too, trying to be subtle, but he was pretty sure Akashi had caught on to what they were trying to do based on the look in his eyes when they got closer. Oh well, there was no hiding anything from Akashi.

“Welcome back,” he said once Akashi got within earshot. 

“I’ve returned,” Akashi said back. He gripped Furihata’s hand tighter when she tried to hide behind him. “Kouki, this is Kagami Taiga, one of my friends. As well as Kuroko Tetsuya’s Knight.”

“H-hello,” Furihata stuttered.

“Hello to you too,” Kagami said, softly, and offered her a hand to shake. She took it and he shook it once before letting her go to avoid discomfort. “I’m sorry Kuroko’s not here yet. I guess she’s the last one. But your other friends are awake.” He turned to the side to let her see where Himuro was talking to Kise and Takao. As if sensing that someone was talking about her, Himuro turned around. She smiled kindly at them, and began to walk their way.

“It’s good to see you, Kouki,” she said. Behind her, Kise looked like she wanted to run towards them too, but Aomine was holding her back.

Kouki moved from behind Akashi’s shoulder and moved at a slow run towards her friend, who gathered her into a tight hug. “‘Muro, missed you,” she mumbled.

“Oh, Kouki, I missed you too. I’m so happy you’re alright.”

“We all missed you,” said Takao as she and Kise finally made their way over. Takao ran a hand through Furihata’s hair while Kise rubbed her hand up and down her shoulder. 

“Welcome back, Furi-cchi,” Kise said, and she pulled all four of them into a tighter group hug. 

The five Knights looked on his happy silence, watching their Maidens greet their friend after 50 years of sleep. All except Murasakibara, who slept on in the grass, unknowing. 


	8. Crystal Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so like... late. I know.
> 
> So first it was vacation for a week where I didn't get anything done, then it was a week and a half road trip to California with multiple stops along the way in which I spent the first four or so days sunburnt and sleep deprived and spent the next six roasting under 90-110 degree temperatures. But that's done, I'm home, and I've been having a great time.
> 
> I also got distracted and have started writing two long one-shot fics for other series, so keep an eye out for those once I get done with them!
> 
> And now that I've taken up all of your time reading my notes, let's get this show on the road!

By the time everyone had gotten settled, the hugging was over, and someone took the time to explain to Murasakibara what happened when he woke up, it was getting dark and Kagami had gotten a fire roaring. The sat close to it, and each other, for warmth. A few had stolen the blankets off their bedrolls for a little extra warmth as well.

Kagami was so glad that he was the only one currently without a female partner. He could sit here for hours and never get bored of watching his friends interact with them. Take Midorima for example: Takao was pressed tightly up against his side and they were sharing a blanket, her head was resting on his shoulder and fingers trying to lace themselves together with his, but he kept swatting her hand away. Kise was practically sitting in Aomine’s lap, and Himuro was in Murasakibara’s lap. Even Akashi and Furihata sat close to each other, though she had a blanket wrapped tightly around her shoulders and Akashi was respectfully not touching her.

It had been about an hour since they’d finished catching Furihata up to speed on what had happened since she last remembered. She hadn’t said much, just sat there silently listening, and barely reacted when Himuro tried to get her to talk. She sat silently near Akashi, and he stayed as her rock, watching over her. Kagami couldn’t stop the feelings of pity and sadness that rose from looking at her. She looked so lost.

Akashi was also looking a bit lost. It was like he didn’t know what to do, and considering the situation he probably didn’t. It wasn’t like he’d ever been in this position before. He waited until he saw Kagami look away out of the corner of his eye before he leaned his head closer to Furihata. “Kouki,” he whispered gently, “are you tired? Do you want to go to sleep?” Surprisingly, she nodded. Akashi stood up and moved towards where his horse rested on the ground and retrieved the two bedrolls. Moving back, he spread them out on the ground, far enough from the fire so they didn’t have to worry about it catching fire and close enough to still feel the warmth.

Furihata only moved once prompted, and crawled slowly onto the small mattress. Akashi gently draped the blanket over her, tucking it up to her chin. “Rest now,” he said. “Close your eyes. I will watch over you.”

“Can I trust you?” she whispered, surprising him. Her eyes focused on him, waiting for an answer.

Akashi smiled and placed his right hand over his heart. “I swear, on my honor as a man and as your Knight, that I will keep you safe. No harm will come to you as long as there is life in me.”

If the blush on her cheeks was from his words or from the fire, he couldn’t tell. She didn’t quite smile, but Akashi could see in her eyes that she was happy. Or if not happy, at least a little more relaxed. She closed her eyes and Akashi sat with her until she fell asleep. Akashi caught both Kagami and Himuro’s glances at him and saw respect in their eyes. He was used to being the respected one, it was strange to be on the receiving end of those looks.

“You all should sleep as well,” he said, and they quickly averted their eyes and made excuses as to what they should be doing. Akashi just smiled. What good friends he had, to be worried about him, and what good friends Furihata Kouki had, to be worried about her safety. Shrugging, Akashi unrolled his own bedroll next to Furihata and laid down for the night.

\-----

It was the sun that woke them the next morning. With few trees around to block out the morning rays, the sun shone bright on everyone’s faces, causing many to wake groaning about how bright it was. It took upwards of an hour and a half to get everyone ready to go. But once they set off they made good time, despite the fact that all but one of their horses was carrying two people. They made it to the fifth and final temple in two hours.

 It amazed Kagami how different from the others this one looked. The stone was dark, almost black, and it was placed in just the right spot under the trees where it would never sit in the sun at any time of day. To some it would seem ominous, but Kagami found it almost beautiful, mysterious even. And if the look Aomine was giving him meant anything he had been staring at it for a while.

“Well?” Aomine asked. “You gonna go in or what?”

Kagami took a deep breath. “Yeah, I’m going.”

“Look at this guy, already hopelessly in love and he’s never seen her face,” Takao laughed. Midorima whacked the back of her head and told her to shut up.

Kagami’s face turned red. “I’m not in love!” he stuttered.

“Yet,” Murasakibara mumbled. Himuro’s face turned red too, and she buried her face into Murasakibara’s shoulder, mumbling about how embarrassed she was.

Choosing to ignore them, Kagami and his red face power walked as fast as he could into the temple. The first thing he realized was that, unlike the others, this temple only had one door inside leading to another room. And he could see a bright blue light coming from inside the other room. The second thing was the fact that there was nothing inside this temple. No growing plants, no broken pieces of old furniture or wood, no nothing. So Kagami’s footsteps echoed loudly as he walked through the stone room. Coming out the other side of the door way, Kagami felt his breath temporarily leave his body.

She was so beautiful. Fluffy, short, light blue hair and she was so small. Easily at least a head or two shorter than himself. Gods he wondered what color her eyes were, would they be blue like her hair or another color? He couldn’t take his eyes off her. He barely registered walking closer, barely registered reaching a hand out, but he for sure remembered the moment the crystal disappeared and the beauty inside drifted down into his arms. Kagami was awestruck. How lucky was he to be gifted such a beautiful treasure.

He held her close, nestled in the crook of his arm and her head resting on his shoulder. Her skin was cold, exposed to her shoulders and knees where her dress didn’t cover. Instinct shouted at Kagami to get her warm, to start a fire, to go outside, anything, but he waited. He wanted to see if she would wake up here. And so she did.

There was no change in breathing, no fingers twitching, no indicator. Just the opening of eyes and Gods they were the same beautiful shade of blue as her hair. It took a moment for her to focus on anything, but when she looked up at him and their eyes met, Kagami felt his heart skip a beat or two.

“Good morning,” he finally said, quietly. She just blinked at him, confused.

“Good morning to you too,” she muttered. “I’m terribly sorry, but who are you?”

“Ah, sorry. My name is Kagami Taiga. I’m... I’m your Knight.” A big grin spread across his face. “I’m your Knight, and it’s really good to finally meet you.”

Kuroko nodded slowly in understanding. “It’s good to meet you too. How-” she broke off and coughed. “How long have I been sleeping?”

“Uh, about 50 years.”

“...That’s a very long time. Kise-chan does her job too well, it seems.”

Kagami nodded. “They’re all waiting outside for us. You ready to go?” When he got confirmation, Kagami picked her up and began to carry her out.

“I can walk on my own, Kagami-kun,” she protested.

“I don’t trust that,” Kagami said. “Kise acted like she was fine and ended up falling over. The last thing I want is for you to hurt yourself thinking you’re okay.”

“I’m not Kise-chan. I am quite capable of walking on my own feet. I am not so clumsy.”

“I’m sure you’re not but I’m not risking it.” And when Kuroko wiggled around trying to get out of his grip, he just gripped tighter. “Now stop moving.”

She obeyed, reluctantly, and Kagami walked the two of them outside. Where they were greeted by a loud cry of “Ku-ro-ko-chii!!” after which Kise promptly ran forward and nearly tackled Kuroko out of Kagami’s arms. Kagami let out a loud sound of exclamation and tried to turn his body away from Kise’s wandering hands.

“Kuroko-chii! I missed you!”

“Kise-chan, you’re too loud,” Kuroko said quietly. “You’ll make my head hurt.”

Kagami chose to ignore Kise’s fake sobbing in favor of moving to set Kuroko down in the grass next to everyone else. Himuro reached one hand out and ran it up and down Kuroko’s arm. “Welcome back, Tetsuya.”

“I’m back, Himuro-chan.”

“Do you feel tired still?”

“No, I’m alright.” Kuroko’s eyes wandered, taking in all the new faces. “It’s good to meet all of you,” she told them. “I am Kuroko Tetsuya.”

“Welcome, Kuroko Tetsuya. I am Akashi Seijurou,” the red head spoke as he moved to shake Kuroko’s hand.

Kuroko studied him, facial expression blank, before saying “You are Furihata-chan’s Knight, correct?”

Akashi blinked, almost surprised. He smiled. This Kuroko was a smart one. Insightful. How interesting. “Yes, correct. She’s sleeping just over there,” he gestured to where Furihata lay on the grass, covered by a thin blanket. “She’ll be very happy to see you when she wakes up.”

The blue haired woman eyed Himuro out of the corner of her eyes. “Has... has she mentioned anything?”

“No.” Himuro shook her head. “She hasn’t told anyone yet. She’s been quiet and skittish but hasn’t spoken much.”

“I swear to you, Tetsuya, that I will do everything in my power to make her feel comfortable.” Akashi bowed his head to her.

“I believe you. Please take care of her, Akashi-kun.” Kuroko stood up, _slowly Kagami kept saying_ , and walked over to her sleeping companion. “She’s our youngest, which makes us all want to mother her,” she sighed. Kneeling down, she brushed some of Furihata’s hair out of her eyes. “She deserves someone by her side.”

Akashi nodded. “Your friend is in good hands. They all are.”

Himuro laughed, covering her mouth with one hand. “Oh yes. I’m sure that’s the case.” They all glanced over to Aomine, who was holding Kise’s dress by the hem to keep her from running off, only to make some comment that was probably very lewd and earning a smack upside the head not only from Kise herself, but Midorima, who sat nearby. Takao giggled from next to him, a small sparrow nesting comfortably in her hair.

“Right. Good hands.” Kuroko did not look amused.

“Well, some of them are in good hands.”


	9. Then and Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...  
>  So this took a while.
> 
> Thank you everyone for being patient with me. Starting school and my new job has made writing time limited. But I'm still here, I'm still alive, and I'm still writing. So thanks to the commenters who made me want to get this up as soon as possible
> 
> So enjoy some limited backstory and some AkaFuri cute-ness.
> 
> Also if you catch my Card Captor Sakura reference YOU'RE WELCOME.

_It had all started with a fire._

_An entire small village was burned to the ground in a matter of minutes. 14 people died that day, and many more were scarred, either physically or mentally. This fire would come to be recognized as the first attack of The Dark One and his minions._

_Soon after more random attacks of violence began cropping up. Fires, murder, destruction of all kinds. It was at this point that the Gods above began to realize they had a problem. They gathered, discussed, and came to the conclusion that if allowed to continue, this Dark One would destroy the world they watched over. He could not be allowed to grow stronger._

_So they decided to create warriors to confront him. Each God found a young woman whose beliefs and values matched the God’s affinities. Each was granted their powers in a dream, and told that they were the only hope this world had of surviving as The Dark One grew more powerful by the day._

_The women could not have been more different from each other. Some came from respectable backgrounds while others did not, their personalities were polar opposites of one another, yet they got along well once they had all met. They became something of a sisterhood, and from the the day they met on, they were never far from one another._

_And slowly they began to learn more about each other. Their ups, and their downs. They learned who was confident in themselves and who wasn’t. They learned each other’s dark secrets and their ticks. They grew so close it was like they had known each other their whole lives._

_Their powers were great, and they took their time experimenting with what they could do. They cared for each other, kept each other in line, and helped each other through difficult times._

_But the Gods soon realized that it wouldn’t be enough. Their protected lands were being burned to the ground, their people slaughtered, and the magic they had gifted the young women would only bring them so far. So they figured out a new method. So they created the Knights, five souls that would be bound to the women with red thread and would be able to amplify their powers, enough that, when all of them combined their power, should be enough to kill The Dark One once and for all._

_But in creating these souls the Gods recognized that there would be no way to birth them into this life. They would be too young, and would not be able to fulfill their duty as protectors. So they entered the dream of one of their chosen women and told her of the special gift they had given her. She would have to seal The Dark One away instead of killing him, potentially sacrificing her own life to accomplish this task. Without hesitation, the woman agreed. But there was a catch._

_“You must create a strong enough prison to hold Him, as His power is too strong to simply be locked in a cage. You must be his prison.”_

_The woman would have to seal The Dark One away within her own body._

_Still, she agreed. And although she did not tell her companions of this it ended up not mattering. When the idea of sealing The Dark One came up, during a battle that would have spelled death for the five if allowed to continue, one of the other girls told her to seal them all away, make them sleep, for as long as it would take for their Knights to be born and find them again. They would not age as they waited, sleeping encased in crystal to ensure their bodies came to no harm._

_After the battle was over, when sun shone over the Teiko plains again, the people mourned the loss of their protectors. No bodies were found, so instead of a burial, the people erected temples to honor them. Once construction was complete and the people had long since stopped visiting, a crystal containing one of the women appeared in a temple, resting and waiting until the day came that they would be awoken._

_The Gods were left to watch as, finally, the souls of the Knights were born into the world, and to their amusement they were very similar to their chosen women, coming from many different backgrounds and statuses, yet all converging and meeting by chance. They set off into the world together as adventurers and, before long, the Gods watched as they met and awakened each of the young women one by one._

_It would have been cause for celebration if the threat of The Dark One reemerging wasn’t hanging over everyone’s heads. It was only a matter of time before The Dark One’s prison inside the woman would break. And then the world would face yet another battle, one that would force their chosen ones to push themselves to limits unknown in order to survive._

_They were sure, though, that everything would be alright._

\-----

It was the middle of the night when Akashi heard rustling in the grass. The moon was still high, the stars shining bright, and although it was cold, it wasn’t uncomfortable. The grass rustled gently and as an owl hooted over their heads, Akashi sat up searching for the source of the noise.

Standing in the grass a little ways away was Furihata. Her knees were locked together, her whole body shaking, and hands grasping her dress’ skirt. Akashi stood up slowly, trying not to make too much noise and startle her. He made his way closer, thinking he was being careful until a stick cracked beneath his feet. Furihata startled and spun around, eyes fearful, but once she spotted Akashi some of the tension went away.

“Are you alright?” Akashi asked her with a whisper. “Could you sleep?”

Furihata shook her head. “I... I have nightmares,” she said.

Akashi made his way to her side, standing close, but not close enough to touch. “Please, sit,” he said, and held her hand as he helped her sit down in the grass. Once settled, he asked, “Would you like to talk about it?”

She shook her head. “Maybe someday,” she whispered. “But... not today. I don’t...”

“You don’t trust me yet.”

“It’s not you, really. It’s all me. I’m... I’m messed up.”

Akashi cupped her hand between both of his. “And that’s alright. It’s okay to be like this. But you are not broken. Cracked, damaged maybe, but not broken.”

Furihata managed a small smile. “You sound so sure.”

“I am sure.” Looking back on their sleeping companions Akashi asked, “Would you like to hear a story?”

“A story?”

“One about me.”

Hesitantly, she nodded. “Please.”

“Many years ago I lived in Rakuzan. My father was a high noble, and I the heir to his position. I was groomed from a very young age to take his spot in court some day, and I was the kind of person who felt very little of those beneath me. One day, I was kidnapped by people who wanted to extort money from my father. They held me without food or water for a few days before I was found. By Taiga over there,” he said, gesturing to where Kagami and Kuroko slept near each other. “He rescued me and brought me back to my house. It was during that night he spent caring for me that my opinions of people began to change.”

“To what?”

“I began to respect everyone. A person who had next to nothing, who was so far beneath me in status that I should’t have cared in the slightest, didn’t see me as someone important, but as a child who needed his help. We began to see more of each other, we got together to do things frequently. Eventually my father found out and gave me a choice. Either I would abandon them and continue the path I had been on before, or he would disinherit me and I would be forced to leave.”

“And you left,” Furihata said, sounding almost shocked. “You had everything and you left.”

“I had material things, yes. What I didn’t have were friends, or a real family. I found that in them. I wouldn’t change a thing, not for the world.” He turned back to her and offered a smile. “And besides, if I never left Rakuzan, if I never went on this journey, I never would have met you.”

Furihata’s face began to heat up. “I’m nothing special,” she stuttered.

“I disagree. ‘The Gods’ chosen Holy Maiden of Hope’. It’s a pretty big title.”

“One I don’t think I deserve.”

“Of course you do. There are thousands of people in this world and of everyone the Gods chose you. They saw something in you and found you worthy of their power. You are special.”

Furihata ducked her head. “You flatter me.” Her face got even redder, if possible.

Akashi couldn’t help but laugh a bit.

From the other side of the camp site, Aomine and Kise looked on quietly. Kise had a huge smile on her face and Aomine looked less annoyed than usual. It seemed that Akashi hadn’t noticed they were awake.

“They’re so cute,” Kise whispered to him. Aomine nodded.

And the next morning when Akashi punished them for watching a private moment neither of them truly meant it when they said “sorry”.


	10. Put the Past Behind You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... ... ...  
>  So...  
> I'm not dead?
> 
> I really should apologize. It's been far too long. I could throw every excuse in the book at you but it doesn't matter. The point is it's been far too long and I've neglected this story.
> 
> Writer's block is a bitch and coupled with school and life issues it's been even worse.
> 
> But I'm here now, and the chapter is out. Think of this as the flashback chapter if you will. And please, enjoy it. :)

_50 Years Ago_

When Kise Ryouta woke up that morning, sun low in the sky and sweat coating her forehead, she knew something had changed. That dream was too vivid to _just_ be a dream. Flashes of disaster, of fire lining the horizon, and voices that echoed still in her head talking about darkness and death and magic. Kise got up on shaky legs, moving to get a cup of water to calm her nerves. 

Was what they said true? Was there really an evil being bent on destroying the world? And was _she_ meant to stop them? What was all the talk about magic, about light and purity, a power the voices said she had? Although now that she thought about it, she did feel warmer. Not in a sickly, feverish kind of way, but an actual heat deep within her core.

Her eyes trailed to a candle sitting on her kitchen table. It’s wick stuck out from the top, and Kise concentrated on it. She focused on that heat inside her, bringing that energy though her whole body and to her fingertips, which she pointed at the wick, and in an instant a small flame burst to life. Kise gasped and backed away, pressing herself against the wall. “How...?” she muttered, before bolting to the door and running a few houses down.

She knocked on the door a few times, and a second later a girl with short blue hair opened the door. “Kise-chan? It’s early, what are you doing here?”

“Something’s wrong, Kuroko-chii!” Kise pushed her way into Kuroko’s home, and the shorter girl followed with a roll of her eyes. “I had this really weird dream and a woke up feeling funny and now I can light things on fire with my mind and, and, and-”

“Hold on, slow down Kise-chan.” Kuroko put a hand on her friends shoulder. “One thing at a time. You had a dream?”

“Yeah. Everything was burning, people were dying, and there were these weird voices telling me weird things about magic and ‘you have been chosen’. Kuroko-cchi, it was too vivid to just be a dream!”

Kuroko didn’t say anything, her face blank, but Kise could see the subtle expression change that hinted at her closest friend being shocked. Kuroko moved to sit in a chair across from Kise, dropping heavily into it. “Voices told you about the destruction of this land and the death of all at the hands of a force to evil to comprehend?”

“...Yeah, how did you know that?”

“Kise-chan, I had the same dream.”

Kise was shocked into silence. For a moment. Then she became quite loud, an “eeeeeeehhh?” tearing it’s way out of her throat at a very loud volume. Kuroko politely covered her ears. 

“What do you mean you had the same dream?!”

Kuroko took her hands off her ears, shooting Kise a small glare. “I mean exactly that. We dreamed the exact same thing last night. Something tells me this is no coincidence.”

“You don’t think...?”

“I think,” Kuroko said, “that it was a message for us and it would be foolish to ignore it. Now, what were you saying about a fire?”

Kise looked confused for a second, then snapped to attention. “Oh yeah! I lit a candle on fire just by thinking about it! I didn’t need to use a match or a flint!”

Kuroko put one hand on her chin, thinking hard. “Could you do it again?” she asked. Nodding, the blonde looked around for something to light and focused on the fire pit in her friend’s living room. It looked like it had been lit last night, the ashes still warm, and with the simple thought of “light, please”, the remains of the logs lit again, the fire large and hot, filling the room with heat. “Okay, now can you put it out. You’re making my house stuffy.”

“O-oh, um, I’ve never tried but...” Kise muttered, then tried focusing on the lit flames again, trying to force them out, and to her surprise it worked. The fire was snuffed, leaving a small trail of smoke in its wake. 

“Interesting,” Kuroko commented. “I don’t think I can do such a thing. This must be unique to you.”

“What did the voice in your dream say?” Kise asked her. “Mine said something about a gift of light and fire. What about you?”

“Now that you mention it,” she said “I do remember something. It said ‘a gift of shadow and night’-” she paused. “Now that I think about it, I woke up with a strange feeling in my chest this morning. I felt... colder. Not like ice, but like how it feels when the sun goes down after a hot summer day.”

“Kuroko-cchi, I wanna see you do something!” Kise said happily, leaning forward in her chair. 

Kuroko sighed. “I don’t know if I _can_ do anything.”

“Still, it doesn’t hurt to try!”

The blue haired girl just nodded, closing her eyes and holding her hands in front of her, face pinched in concentration. Kise wiggled excitedly in place, waiting eagerly for something to happen. A few seconds later a small black and purple orb formed in Kuroko’s palm, thin wisps of what looked like black smoke emanating off of it. Kuroko opened her eyes, almost startled by the sight, but she held it in, not wanting her emotions to cause the magic in her hand to go out of control.

“Wow...” she whispered.

“That’s so cool Kuroko-cchi!” Kise exclaimed, standing up and moving to Kuroko’s side. Reaching out one finger, she poked the little ball of shadow. Her finger phased through it, the inside cold, but not freezing, just as Kuroko had described. Kise pulled her hand back and moved in front of her friend, taking the same position and concentrating the heat in her chest to her palms. Soon, she held a similar orb to Kuroko’s, though hers was made of pure light. The two found that, despite being very bright, they could look directly at it without hurting their eyes.

“Light and Shadow, huh? That’s a little cliche, isn’t it?” Kise said with a laugh.

“Shadows grow stronger in the light. I think it’s a perfect match.”

“It most definitely is, Kuroko-cchi.”

\-----

At the same time, in another place, another young woman awoke with a start. Bolting upright from her cot, Takao Kazuko let out a gasp of relief when she realized it had all been a dream. All of that death, all of the destruction, the darkness, it had been too much. But the voices still rang in her head. It talked of a being of power who would destroy the world should she not do something. It talked of her role, of the magical gifts It had given her. Powers of nature, of life, of the creatures that roamed the earth and sky.

Shaking her head and deciding she needed a walk, Takao left her house and jogged into the woods. It was her safe spot. No one liked the forest because of all the animals; wolves and bears roamed free in there. It never scared her though. She’d been coming to this forest since she was small and the animals had always left her alone. Except for the birds; the birds always seemed to find her. Though they never came close enough for her to touch or hold they would often land within a close distance and just watch. 

Just like now, when a sparrow fluttered down near where she stopped walking. It gave a small squeak. Then she heard the voice.

“Is human okay?” it said, high pitched and quiet.

Takao jumped, head swinging around. “Who’s there?” she asked.

“Me, human! Me!” the voice said again.

Takao’s eyes focused on the sparrow, who had hopped closer on the branch to her. She shook her head. “I’m going insane,” she muttered. “First weird dreams, now the birds are talking, I’ve finally lost it.”

“Human silly! Bird always talk, you just no hear!” The sparrow jumped and fluttered onto her shoulder. “Now you hear! Big bird in sky give you good ears!”

“Wait, ‘big bird in the sky’? What does that mean?”

“It means,” said a new voice, “that a higher power has allowed you to hear us.” A great eagle had landed on the branch the sparrow previously sat on. 

“Oh Gods there’s more,” Takao groaned. 

“Relax, human. We mean no harm.” The eagle scratched its beak with one claw. “We knew this would happen one day. The Gods have given you a great gift, young one, use it well.”

“What’s happening? Why me?”

“A great evil roams this land. He is growing stronger by the day, and soon he will strike. If left unchecked, he will destroy this world and everything in it.”

The sparrow pecked at the long strands of hair by her ears. “Bad human need be stopped. So big bird in sky gave humans magic! Now human hear bird!”

Takao rubbed one finger over the sparrow’s feathers, causing it to coo in delight. “That’s a scary thought. What does this magic do? Besides the obvious.”

“That is for you to find out, young one.” The eagle prepared to take off. “Experiment. Figure it out for yourself. And, when you’re ready, find the others like you.” And with a final cry, he took to the sky’s and vanished.

Takao looked down at the sparrow. “Well, do you want to help me figure out this magic stuff?”  


“Yes! Want to help!”

“Okay then. Let’s get started.”

\-----

At the same time, in yet another place, yet another woman awoke in a cold sweat. Himuro Tatsuya pushed the soft blankets of her bed back to lessen the heat she felt on her skin and pushed the long strands of black hair off her forehead. Standing, she made her way to the basin on the other wall to wash her face. Staring at herself in the mirror, her one visible eye wide and pupil dilated, she tried to reconcile the dream she had.

“May you be blessed with love, with the most indescribable feeling, and may you use it to protect the innocents of this world from harm. Do so in Our name and may you find happiness,” she whispered, reciting the words of her dream. She shook her head. “What does it mean?” Pushing away from the basin she changed clothes to go outside. She needed a walk.

Her village was fairly large and humble. Not much huge trade happened here but visitors always found the place relaxing. A cute little town nestled near the mountains. As Himuro began her walk, people were already filtering out into the streets, setting up their shops for the day. A few waved at her as she passes, and when she waved back she could swear she felt a warmth spread in her chest.

“Good morning!” one woman, the wife of the baker, called to her.

“Good morning,” Himuro called back. “All set for the day?”

“As soon as Takashi brings out the rest of the rolls. Interested in any?”

“Not right now,” she said, shaking her head. “I need to go see Alex. Perhaps for lunch though?”

“Ah, Tatsuya-chan!” Takashi, the baker, came outside carrying a tray of light brown rolls. “Good to see you today!”

It was then Himuro noticed something weird. There was a red string tied around his left ring finger, right near his wedding band. Following it with her eyes, she traced it to his wife’s ring finger, tied in the same place. As the couple moved about, the thread stretched and even seemed to phase through objects, but it never broke. She rubbed her eyes, thinking she was seeing things, but the thread remained.

“G-good to see you too,” she finally replied. “Forgive me for leaving so suddenly, but I must go.”

“Have a good day!” they called as she walked away. Himuro walked as fast as she could without appearing rushed as she made her way to her friend Alex’s house. When she knocked, the door was answered within seconds.

“Tatsuya?” Alex asked, flicking her bright blonde hair over her shoulder and adjusting her glasses. She still wore her sleep clothes. “It’s so early, what’s up? Why are you here?”

Tatsuya made her way inside where the two friends sat at Alex’s kitchen table, Alex making breakfast for the two of them while Himuro began to explain.

“I had a strange dream,” she started. “All around me there was destruction and death, with a large black cloud hovering in the sky. I heard a sickening laugh and watched as a shadowed figure killed thousands of people before my eyes. Then I was alone and I heard voices. It was like an echo of many voices speaking as one, and they told me about what was going to happen, and that I had been given powers to stop it. And that there were others like me I would need to find.”

Alex placed a plate in front of her. “Is this the first time you’ve had this dream?” she asked. When Himuro nodded, she said, “It doesn’t sound like any old nightmare to me.”

“Did you ever hear of anything like this out west, in your old home?”

The blonde woman shook her head. “Not personally. But it’s not uncommon for people with gifts to have dreams that relate to them. I once knew a farmer who could predict when the moon would turn orange, signaling the time to harvest, and he always had the best looking crops of anyone. He would always see the moon in a dream and know when it was coming.”

“This seems different though,” said Himuro. “It was... there was so much death, Alex. Why would I dream of something like that?”

“What I think, is that you need to find these other people the voices told you about. Who knows? Maybe they know something you don’t.”

“But... that would mean-”

“You can’t honestly believe you were meant to live in this little town forever?” Alex asked with a smirk. “This is your chance, Tatsu. Go see the world. And, maybe, save it in the process.”

With a laugh, Himuro stood and hugged her best friend. “I love you, you know that right?”

“Of course I do. And I know I’ll see you again. Now go.”

\-----

When the final girl was awoken from her dream it wasn’t silent. She bolted upright and let out a loud scream of terror, breath catching in her throat at the last moment. She covered her mouth with both hands to stifle any more cries that might come. She tried to breathe calmly, to calm her raging heart, and blinked back tears. She had to be quiet, or who knows what would happen. 

Once she was confident she was awake and not going to see anymore strange things, Furihata Kouki crawled over to the ladder that led down into the barn. When her feet touched the floor, she brushed the clingy straw off her dress, frowning at all the dirt that had accumulated on it. It happened every time her father made her sleep in the barn loft. Glancing outside she sighed with relief. The sun hadn’t risen yet. She had time before her father came to get her for the daily chores.

She sat on a hay bale and wrung her hands together, trying to stop the shaking. Nightmares weren’t uncommon for Furihata, in fact they were quite the frequent occurrence, but this one... this one wasn’t like usual. Far from it. The whole world was on fire, homes burning down, the land scorched black, and people screaming as they burned. And a voice above it all, laughing. Then a warm wind and gentle yet powerful voices telling her strange things. 

What did it mean? What did “hope and courage” mean for her? She ran her fingers through her long hair, pulling out more straw and combing out some of the tangles. How was she, the pathetic little farm girl, meant to help anyone? When she couldn’t even help herself? There was no hope or courage to be found here, despite what her weird dreams said.

But what if they weren’t lying? What if what they said was true, that she had some weird magic powers? She did feel warmer than usual. Not a sick kind of warm, but like a nice fire on a cool night kind of warm. It felt nice.

“I have to go, don’t I?” she asked herself aloud. “I have to find these others.” That was a scary thought. She’d never left the farm in her life. But if these dreams were right than she would have no choice. “Is this that courage they were talking about?”

Only one way to find out.

She waited all day. When her father came to let her out of the barn he barked at her about housework that needed to be done that day and she didn’t argue with him. Her day was spent inside cleaning and doing laundry, nothing unusual. But that night, she snuck around the house, packing some clothing and a few personal items, as well as some food, and stepped outside under cover of darkness. Her heart was pounding, sweat running down her face despite the cool night air, and her legs were shaking. But she managed to close the door quietly and, only pausing once to look back, ran from the farm.  
  
She would never be seen there again.


	11. Secrets and Lovers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GOOD NEWS! I'm not dead!
> 
> So I have an outline written for how this story is going to progress to the end. I haven't given up yet. It's just filling in all the little details that's giving me trouble. But I cranked this out and I'm happy with it so we're getting somewhere!
> 
> Thanks to all for sticking around.
> 
> Also, fair warning, I'm obsessed with the musical "Hamilton" and may have put a couple of references to it in this chapter... I'm not sorry.
> 
> ALSO I PROMISED ROMANCE SO HAVE YOUR ROMANCE. YOU'RE WELCOME. ＼\ ٩( ᐛ )و /／
> 
> EDIT: GUYS! FANART! The lovely i-smell-kyouten on Tumblr drew fanart of the genderswap characters of this fic! Please check it out and show her support! Thank you for sharing with me!  
> http://i-smell-kyouten.tumblr.com/post/117453781205/so-i-took-the-liberty-to-draw-the-maidens-of  
> (idk how to link things in notes)

Midorima Shintarou’s hair looked like grass.

That was the first thing Takao Kazuko noticed upon waking up that morning. She wanted to giggle so badly but noticing that everyone else was still asleep she kept her mouth shut. Her shoulders shook with the force of keeping the laughter at bay. 

Taking a moment to herself, she let her fingers run freely through Midorima’s hair. If he were awake he’d push her hand away and tell her to stop. But now, still deep in sleep despite the sun starting to peak over the horizon, he leaned into her touch, sighing deeply. He was so precious, she couldn’t help but think.

It had been so long since she craved human contact like this. After she had discovered her powers she had left her home behind. She had long moved on from her family, living by herself in a town where no one knew her. But once she had that dream she left that behind too, going to live in the woods with the animals. Takao spent a couple of months living with the deer and the birds leaning how to use her powers and how to talk to the animals. When she had met one of the other Maiden’s for the first time, Himuro Tatsuya had found her carrying an armful of nuts while chittering away with a squirrel. She had spent so long without human contact that she started talking to Himuro like she did the squirrel.

Yet somehow she became an older and younger sister to four people she had never met within the span of a week. She left one family behind and gained another. And she loved her sisters more than anything, often sacrificing bits of her own happiness in exchange for theirs.

Takao Kazuko was a force of nature but she was only human.

And now, watching her new Knight sleep, she felt more human than ever before. This man was nothing like her, headstrong and bold, yet reserved. But he lost all of that in sleep. His face was relaxed as she drew her finger from his forehead down to his temple, where his eyelashes rested against his cheeks, and then to his strong cheekbones and jaw line. Her heart fluttered. Her man was so beautiful, and boy did she love him. The daunting personality didn’t bother her, if anything it made her more eager to pursue him. 

It was at this moment, with her fingers resting on Midorima’s skin, that she noticed she wasn’t alone. Someone else had woken up. Surprisingly, it was Furihata.

Takao watched as her little sister sat up, not in the groggy recently roused from sleep way Takao herself had gotten up, but smooth and silent. Furihata had been awake for a while, she realized. That wasn’t good, she needed more sleep. The youngest spent a moment just gazing up at the early morning sky, not bright enough to wake the others, with the sun just barely peaking over the tall trees, but bright enough to see. Then she moved her gaze down to Akashi, who slept on near her. Not close enough to touch, far enough to give her personal space, but also close enough to offer a protective presence. 

Furihata’s face was blank, betraying no emotion but curiosity as she leaned down to look at Akashi’s sleeping face closer. Takao wished so badly to know what she was thinking at that moment. Her poor sister had been through hell throughout her life and as such had issues trusting people. Did she trust Akashi at all? Enough to let him into the cage she had built around her heart? Takao could only wonder.

It was at this moment that Furihata looked up and caught Takao’s eye. She went red in the face and tried to turn away, but Takao just stood up and walked over to her, kneeling at her side. She opened her arms and Furihata fell against her chest, letting her older sister hug her.

“Whatever is bothering you,” Takao whispered, “whatever is keeping you from sleep, you know you can tell us, right?” All she got was a nod. “You know I love you, right?”

Furihata managed a small laugh. “I know. I love you guys so much. I’m sorry I’m so messed up.”

“None of that, you’re amazing. The greatest of us all and don’t you forget it. The best of women.”

“Maybe not that far.”

“Shhh, let me love you,” Takao hummed and hugged her tighter, swaying back and forth.

\-----

_“Do you remember our deal?” the voice asked._

_Kise stood in a black space, empty and lifeless. It felt like she was standing on water but when she looked down she couldn’t see anything. The only other thing in the room was a ball of multicolored light wisps. Despite being bright it didn’t burn her eyes, nor did it cast any shadows in the empty space._

_“I remember,” she answered it. “I can seal evil away but the cage must be made of my own body.”_

_“The cage would have held forever had you continued to sleep,” the voice said. It sounded like many voices joined together to create one voice, and sounded so other worldly that she couldn’t compare it to anything. “However long that would have been necessary. Now that you are among the living again, it is only a mater of time before it breaks open.”_

_“We’ll be ready this time. We’re not alone. I have faith in our Knights.”_

_“As you should. But you should also prepare for the worst.”_

_She took a deep breath. “Will it hurt? Will I feel it?”_

_“We wish we could tell you that it would not, that it would be instantaneous and painless, but that would be a lie. It will hurt, it will last longer than you wish, and you will feel everything.”_

_She let out a shaky breath. “Can I do anything?”_

_“No human medication can lessen it. We are sorry. There is no other way.”_

_“Will I know when it will happen?”_

_“Even we cannot see when it will occur. The Dark One’s influence is too concentrated inside you and it blocks our view into your soul.”_

_“Great. Just great. Okay, I can handle it.”_

_“Your light is great, young one. Place faith in your other half and faith in your companions, and all will be well.”_

_Kise felt the dream begin to fade. “My... other half?”_

“Oi, Kise, Kagami’s done with breakfast, time to get up.”

Kise groaned as Aomine’s voice woke her from the dream. There was still so much she wanted to ask the Gods and not enough time in the night to do so. Why did they always have to be so literal and cryptic at the same time? “I’m up,” she said, throat dry. “Is there water?”

Aomine passed her a flask of water which she drank eagerly. “Rough night?” he asked her.

“What makes you say that?”

“Your eyes are red.”

She rubbed her eyes, saying “Really? I’m fine, just a weird dream.” She held her hand out for the plate Kagami was handing her and yawned loudly. “I wanna go back to sleep, why did you wake me?”

“Because food.” Aomine’s plate was almost completely empty. “I’m actually surprised I was up before you, miss always-full-of-energy.”

“Like I said, weird dream. I’m a little out of it this morning.”

“Something you want to share with the group?” Himuro asked from her spot next to Murasakibara. She was smiling despite the teasing tone.

“Tatsuya-cchi, you know better than to pry into our personal lives,” Kise replied in the same tone.

Kagami was looking back and forth between the two, confused. Kuroko patted his forearm. “They’re joking with each other. We tell each other almost everything, so she’s asking if it’s important enough for us to know.”

“Oh, okay I get it now.”

The rest of the morning progressed in similar fashion, just pleasant conversation between new friends, stories of their past. Even Furihata was talking more than the other day, albeit quietly and only elaborating on stories that happened after she met the others. It quickly escalated into an animated discussion between Kagami and Murasakibara as they argued over how one of their jobs went. When this happened, when the attention was diverted from them, Kise stood quietly and pulled Aomine up with her. When he shot her a questioning look, she put her finger to her lips and motioned for him to follow her. They made their way into the forest, past the first few rows of trees until they were far enough away not to be heard.

“What’s up?” Aomine asked when they finally stopped. “You’ve been acting weird all morning.”

“Sorry. I just... I need to tell someone about this before it eats me alive and...”

“What? Is something wrong?” he said with panic in his voice. 

Kise shook her head, instead acting and taking his hand in hers and pulling him closer. They were about the same height, which made it easy for her to lean in and gently kiss him.

Aomine froze completely. Almost forgot to respond for a second before snapping to attention and wrapping his free hand around the small of her back and pulling her closer, kissing her back with more force. For a solid minute they just stood there, holding each other and kissing, until Kise pulled back to breathe.

“Gods I love you,” Aomine huffed. 

“I love you, Daiki” Kise replied. “I love you so much. But that’s not what I needed to tell you.” They both laughed. “As lovely as this is, this is something really important.”

“Okay, what is it?”

“Um... do you, uh, remember a couple days ago, when we were in Seirin with Riko-cchi and Hyuuga-cchi?”

“Yeah.”

“And how we mentioned that once all of us were awake it was only a matter of time before The Dark One woke up too?”

“Uh-huh. Where is this going?”

“Hold on for two seconds and I’ll tell you.” Kise took a deep breath. “It’s going to happen soon. I don’t know when exactly but it will be soon. Within a week maybe.”

“Oh Gods. Um, what do we do? How do you know this?” Aomine’s hold on her back and hand tightened.

“My dream. I met a messenger of sorts for the Gods and they spoke to me. It was a warning.”

Aomine nodded. “Okay I think I get it. We’ll just have to be ready. We can do that.”  


Kise smiled, but it faded quickly. “There’s... one more thing. About the cage itself.” When he nodded at her to continue, she said “It’s not a physical cage. At least not like you would picture one. We told you about how I had to use my powers to seal Him? Well, because His powers stem from pure darkness and mine from pure light, it had to be me, right? Well... I sort of... I...”

“Come on, spit it out.”

“I am the cage.”

Aomine blinked. Twice. Three times. “I don’t understand.”

“I am The Dark One’s cage. I sealed him inside of my own body.”

For a moment, there was no response. Then, “Ew.”

Kise stared at him incredulously. “That’s it? Just an ‘ew’?”

“You just said he’s inside you-”

“Oh my Gods, no! Pull you head out of the gutter for a minute, please! I’m, Gods, I’m holding the physical manifestation of darkness and evil in my own body and that’s what you’re thinking about!”

“Kise-”

“I’m fucking scared okay!”

Aomine let go of her hand and reached up to pull her head against his shoulder. He could feel his shirt getting wetter but stayed still, giving Kise some time to let it out. “Kise, no, Ryouta, I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to sound like I didn’t care.”

She sniffed. “It’s gonna hurt Daiki. He’s gonna force his way out of my body and it’s going to hurt like hell and there’s nothing I can do and I don’t even know when it’s going to happen and it’s scary!” She took a shuddering breath, more tears soaking Aomine’s shoulder. “I did it to save us all but it’s not enough!”

“Ryouta, shh. It’s all gonna work out, I swear. You think I’m just going to leave you to deal with this shit on your own? As if,” Aomine said, comfortingly.

One last sniff, and Kise turned her head so she could look him in the eyes. “I love you,” was all she said.

“I love you, too.” 

For the next few minutes they just sat in the grass, listening to the sparrows chatter amongst themselves and holding each other close. By now the others would be wondering where they were but they made no effort to move.

The others...

“Should we tell the others?” Aomine asked. “Does anyone know already?”

“No,” Kise replied. “The girls know I used my power to seal Him, but they don’t know the details. I couldn’t tell them then.”

“You’ll have to do it now.”

“I know. I know, and I don’t want to. What if they get mad?”

“Of course they’re gonna be mad, stupid,” Aomine said, flicking her in the arm. “They’re gonna be mad there wasn’t anything they could do. They’re gonna be mad that it had to be this way. But they’re not gonna be mad _at_ you.”  


“That was surprisingly insightful. Maybe I misjudged.”

“Don’t be surprised, it probably won’t happen again.”

Kise laughed, kissing him again, just a quick peck. “We should get back though. Before Tetsuya-cchi comes looking for us.”

Aomine nodded and the two stood up, linking their fingers together and walking back towards the camp. “Hey, Ryouta?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you know if Himuro has kissed Murasakibara yet?”

They both froze in their tracks. “Wait, were we the first?” Kise asked, shocked.

“The most obviously in love ones who have been together the longest out of all of us, and _we_ are the first ones to actually progress in some kind of relationship?”

“The one who’s power stems from love itself hasn’t told the man she’s obviously in love with that she loves him?”

They stared at each other, mouths open. “Really?!”


	12. Keep Calm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late? I'm not late. I have things that keep me busy you know! College isn't easy. But I did it! I got this done!
> 
> So... who's gonna hate me for this one?
> 
> Shit's gonna hit the fan guys and I'm gonna leave it on a cliffhanger cause I enjoy seeing you suffer. >:)
> 
> WARNING: There is a panic attack in this chapter, based on experiences I've had with my own attacks. As such it may be graphic. I've made pretty liberal use of italics so you'll see it when it comes but be warned. I don't want to accidentally trigger anyone else. I've updated the tags for the fic as well.

Ever hear the phrase “the straw that broke the camel’s back”? It’s a saying that alludes to the one final piece of stress that leads to the collapse of something that was once sturdy. Could be stress, could be physical, could be anything. But the longer negative feelings are built up the bigger the break when the final piece of straw is added. It only takes one small thing to make a person snap.

If there was one thing that Furihata Kouki understood it was stress, both internal and external. Stress that she created for herself and stress that was pressed on her from other sources. So far she thought she was handling everything... well, she wouldn’t say “okay” but she was handling it. Everyone had to start somewhere.

Ever since waking up she had this pressure in her chest. Memories of her life before the God’s blessing plus the stress of her life after, added to a 50 year sleep she never saw coming and suddenly waking up in a world that wasn’t what she knew. It was a miracle she hadn’t snapped yet. 

Maybe it was because of her sisters. It had taken so long for her to think of them like that. She never had siblings before, and now she had four that weren’t related to her in any way. It was weird, but it helped to have someone to talk to once and a while, when she felt up to it. Now, if she wanted to stretch it a bit, she had five new brothers too. They had been nothing but nice to her from the moment they first said hello. She liked all of them well enough. Especially Akashi. 

So Akashi was supposed to be her Knight. She didn’t think that would have meant anything at first, but she felt the most comfortable around him than anyone. He may be treating her like glass most of the time but sometimes she liked that. Liked being treated like something precious. The word “breakable” came to mind but she pushed it away. As much as she didn’t like to admit it (the shyness coming through) she liked the treatment, she liked being handled carefully. It was something she hadn’t had for so long. Yes, her sisters treated her like a princess, but this was... something special.

Furihata watched the tallest one - Murasakibara, she reminded herself, his name is Murasakibara - pull Himuro into his arms and rest his head on her shoulder. She watched her sister smile fondly and run her fingers through his hair, leaning into him. Could she ever be like that? Trust someone so much to hold her like that? She glanced at Akashi out of the corner of her eye, who sat near her but was talking to Midorima. Did she want him to hold her like that? A small shudder ran up her spine. Yes, she did want that. She wanted it so badly. 

So what was holding her back?

Herself. She was holding herself back. 

Okay, how could she change that?

Start paying attention to the conversation maybe?

“And what’s taking Aomine and Kise so long?” Midorima was saying.

“I don’t want to know what they’re doing,” Kagami interjected. 

“Taiga, please don’t be mean to them,” Akashi said. “Daiki has never been this comfortable with anyone. Let them enjoy this moment of calm while it lasts.”

Midorima huffed. “Please, he’s just looking for an excuse to slack off.”

Kagami laughed “I know, useless right?”

_“Useless! You’re so useless! Why do I even bother?”_

Furihata’s back straightened, eyes wide and breathing coming to a halt. That word...

_“What a useless daughter! Can’t do anything right!”_

“Kouki?” she heard a voice ask. But it was like cloth was stuffed in her ears, it sounded so far away. “Kouki, what is it?”

_“Get your sorry ass over here, you know you deserve everything you’re about to get!”_

“No, no, I’m sorry...” she muttered.

“Kouki, what’s wrong?”

“No,” she thought she heard Himuro gasp. “Not again! Kazuko! Tetsuya!”

“Furihata-chan, can you hear me? It’s Kuroko, I need to you look at me, can you do that?”

“What’s going on?”

_“You see this?” Her father was holding the belt up, the strap worn from lots of use. “You know what’s going to happen?” He gripped it and gave a great swing, striking her back with the leather, the metal belt making contact with her ribs from the side. “Useless bitch, you’re worthless to me! Know this: no one will ever-” another hit “-EVER-” another hit “want you, you sorry excuse for a human! I wish your whore of a mother never conceived you!”_

“You aren’t back there, you’re here with us. The sun is warm, we are safe here, I promise you.”

“What can we do?”

“Don’t touch her, you’ll make it worse!”

“What the hell is happening?”

“Furi-cchi!”

_She didn’t see the knife, the slash to her side surprising her. She felt blood soak into her clothes, large spikes of pain running through her, but the gag in her mouth prevented her screams from getting too loud. Another slash to her side, one on her arm. “Scream, bitch,” her father said. “Or do you like the pain?”_

“I don’t- I don’t-”

_“You belong to me! You are mine to use however I want! When you disobey, when you don’t do what I tell you to, when you’re not fast enough, I’ll do this again! And again, until you understand that you. Are. Nothing!”_

“No, please, I-”

_“No one will ever love you, you stupid fucking-”_

“Kouki.”

_“Worthless-”_

“Kouki, hear my voice.”

_“Are you listening?!”_

“Come back to us, Kouki. Follow the sound of my voice, hear my words.”

_“You will never-”_

“Do you remember what I said before? You are not broken. Cracked and damaged, but not broken. Cracked can be fixed. You cannot let these feelings get the better of you. Follow my voice and come back to us.”

Furihata gulped in huge breaths of air, too quickly to really make a difference, but she tried. Akashi sounded so sure, so calm, she latched onto his words and tried to breath.

“There you go, Kouki. Deep breaths, a little slower. I’m going to grab your right hand, okay?” She felt his fingers close around hers, gently and softly. “I’m going to place your hand on my chest. I want you to feel my breathing, and copy me. Ready?” He lifted her hand slowly and placed her palm in the middle of his chest. He didn’t let go, holding on in an effort to ground her. He started to breath in, taking multiple seconds and holding the breath for a moment before exhaling. Furihata did her best to copy him, but her breath was too shaky and she kept huffing, not getting enough air. She could feel the tears running down her cheeks and couldn’t do anything to stop them.

“You’re doing well, Kouki. Keep copying me, the gasping will stop soon. Focus on me, let the rest of the world fade away for now.”

How could she do that? The panic was too much, what if he came back, what if he hurt her again, she didn’t want to go back, please don’t make me go back-

She hadn’t realized she had said that out loud until Akashi whispered “You aren’t going anywhere. You are staying right here, with us, with your sisters. They love you, they are here for you. I am here for you. Just breathe. The voice you hear in your head is not here, listen only to me.”

Yes, she can do this. She can focus on him, can focus on his words. Like an anchor they pulled her back down to where she was supposed to be. Slowly her breath began to be less shaky, the tears slowed, she became more aware. Akashi was telling her about the grass, how soft it was, how it tickled their legs. Telling her about the wind, how nice it felt, cooling their skin on a warm day. 

Minutes later, Furihata was back, having calmed enough to feel the adrenaline leave her veins all at once, and she sagged forward in sheer exhaustion. She fell into Akashi’s chest, and he gently put his arms around her in a comforting hug. She knew she was still crying, probably soaking his shirt, but he didn’t say anything. Just whispered soft “shhhh” sounds into her hair, running one hand up and down her spine.

“Welcome back, Kouki,” he whispered.

She sighed. “Thank you,” she whispered back. She didn’t think she could managed anything louder.

“How do you feel now?”

“Tired... So tired...”

“Close your eyes, beloved. Sleep. No nightmares will come to you.”

She did just that. The last thought she had was “He called me ‘beloved’...”

\-----

Nobody moved, not for a very long time after it was all over. While Furihata managed to sleep peacefully in Akashi’s arms the same couldn’t be said for the rest of the group. Kise was outright sobbing, Aomine sitting next to her with one arm around her shoulders. Himuro was less loud but still crying from her spot in Murasakibara’s lap. Takao was bent over in the grass, breathing heavily as Midorima rubbed her back, whispering words of encouragement to help ward off the panic attack she was so close to having. And Kagami and Kuroko sat in silence, Kagami gripping her hand tightly. It hurt, but she wasn’t telling him to let go.

“...Did I say something?” Kagami whispered.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Kuroko whispered back.

“She seemed fine for a while. But she started freaking out while we were talking. What if I said something that set her off?”

“Oh, Kagami-kun,” she breathed. She put her free hand on his knee in comfort. “Don’t think that.”

“But-”

“Even we don’t know what will force her to remember things. We do our best to avoid the triggers we know, but we don’t know all of them. Maybe it was a word, maybe it was the tone of someone’s voice, maybe it was caused by her own thoughts. We won’t know until Furihata-chan tells us.” She reached up and cupped his cheek, turning his head to look at her. His face was pained. “Do not blame yourself, please.”

Kagami nodded, letting out a big puff of air. He seemed to deflate with relief. “Does this... happen often?”

Kuroko shook her head. “No, not often. But when it does...”

“Will you teach me? I mean, in case it happens again, will you show me what to look for and what to do?”

“Of course.” She laughed, just a short little “ha”. “I get the feeling we’ll be with each other a very long time anyway. It would help to know these things.”

Kagami laughed too. “Is everyone else okay? Takao doesn’t look too good.”

“Takao-chan gets attacks like that too. Usually much rarer than Furihata-chan does. And because she’s a little more in control she doesn’t let it get this bad. She will hold it in for now and once things have calmed down, once we know nothing is wrong, she will let it out. I hope Midorima-kun is strong enough to care for her when that happens.”

“He’ll be fine. She’s held all of his focus from the moment they met. He’s not going to just let her hold it in like that.”  
  
“Good.”

By now, most of the noise had quieted down, Kise’s sobs turned to the occasional sniffle and Takao’s breathing calmed. All eyes were on Akashi, who pretended not to notice while he rearranged Furihata’s body in his arms to lay against him better. 

“It’s not fair,” Kise whimpered. “She doesn’t deserve any of this.”

“Why did it happen?” Murasakibara asked. 

Himuro shook her head, face wet with tears but she appeared to have stopped crying. “We can’t tell you. It’s her choice, not ours.”

“We deserve to know! We don’t want to see her freak out again!” Aomine said, loudly.   
  
“Hush, Daiki,” Akashi finally spoke up. “Don’t wake her.”

“Oh come on, you can’t tell me you’re not curious.”

“Have some respect,” Midorima said. “Do not pry into the lives of others where you don’t belong.”

“We want to tell you,” Takao said, using Midorima’s shoulder to stabilize herself as she sat up before leaning her head on him. “The more you know the better you can help. But you can’t know the whole story until Furi-chan is ready to tell it.”

Midorima looked down on her, face soft. “Will this secret hurt her in any way?”

Takao was silent for a moment. “Not anymore.”

“Please, everyone, lets drop it for right now. Let Kouki sleep, and when she wakes up and feeling better we will bring it up again,” Akashi said. “Tatsuya, am I correct to assume that it would be best if Kouki not wake up alone?”

“Yeah,” Himuro said after taking a deep breath. “I’ll get her a blanket.” She gently wormed out of Murasakibara’s hold and stood up, pausing to bend down and press a light kiss to his forehead. “Thank you,” she told him.

“No problem.”

While Himuro dug through a horse’s saddle bag Kuroko got up to go sit by Akashi and Furihata. She pulled a ribbon from her dress pocket and began to tie Furihata’s hair back, putting it into a braid. “That was very smart of you, Akashi-kun,” she said.

“I only did what felt right. I admit, I’ve never done anything like that before. Was that okay?”  


“It was perfect. Himuro-chan and I do something similar to help bring her out of panic attacks like that. It was quick, which I think is important. The faster we bring her out of that state, the better.” She finished braiding and tied off the end with the ribbon. “You are already proving yourself worthy of being a Knight.”

“I wish I knew exactly what that meant. What I’m supposed to do with that title.”

“You are supposed to protect. She may be very powerful, she may be the physical representation of the hope of humanity but she is still human. Furihata-chan needs someone by her side to ground her and remind her she is human. That is your role as Knight.”

“Is it the same for my friends as well?”

“Possibly. I think there’s something more to it than that. The Gods are very tight lipped about what exactly we’re supposed to be doing. They tend to speak very... vaguely,” she said with a smile.

Together they helped shift Furihata so she was lying down, head pillowed in Akashi’s lap. Himuro came over with a blanket and gently spread it over her. Anyone looking at the scene from the outside, without knowing what happened, would assume that she had just fallen asleep for a nap in the middle of the day. 

Akashi ran his hand through Furihata’s hair, softly as to not wake her again. In truth, he didn’t feel as calm on the inside as he looked on the outside. His heart was racing, he could feel the pounding in his brain like he had just run for miles. His palms were sweating, in fact his whole body felt warm. That was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do, including confronting his father before deciding to leave Rakuzan all those years ago. _‘Breath, Seijurou,’_ he thought to himself, _‘Inhale, exhale. One two three four five... inhale, exhale.’_

It wouldn’t do him any good to panic now. There had been enough of that for one day. He was supposed to be the leader here. He had to be strong. For them. For her. 

For his beloved.

It was a good thing he was facing away from the group because his face turned uncharacteristically red. He had actually said that out loud. He’d been thinking it, sure, but he hadn’t meant to say it out loud. How embarrassing. Would she even remember it when she woke up? 

Part of him hoped she did.

They were really going to have to talk about this later.

\-----

Later turned out to be around sunset, quite a few hours later. The rest of the group tried to go about their day, chatting with each other trying to relax in the warm sunshine. Food was made and passed around just after midday. Akashi never moved form his spot, keeping constant vigil over his sleeping companion. Keeping true to his word, when Furihata finally woke up, Akashi was with her.

She blinked sleep out of her eyes. Her head feeling liked it was stuffed with cloth, her eyes hurt, her entire body was stiff. For a moment Furihata forgot what had happened, but it all came back to her and suddenly she was very much awake and aware. Aware of her head cushioned on something soft and a blanket draped over her. Furihata tried to move, but only managed to force her body to shudder violently.

Her pillow shifted in response. She wasn’t expecting that. “Kouki?” she heard Akashi’s voice say. “Are you awake?”

She opened her eyes again and tried to turn her head to look up at him. She was laying on his lap? When did that happen? Part of her wanted to panic and get away, to avoid touching another person as much as possible, but the other part wanted to say where she was, soaking up Akashi’s warmth and taking comfort in his presence. She went with the second part.

“Akashi-kun?” she whispered. 

“I’m here. I’m right here.” One of his hands touched her shoulder lightly, just his fingertips. “Do you feel better now that you’ve slept?”

“Yes... thank you, again.”

“It’s all right, you do not need to thank me. I’m glad you feel better.”

Furihata twisted, struggling to sit up, and as if reading her mind Akashi’s hands where there, on her shoulders, helping her. She sat up and leaned against his side. She was reminded of when she first woke up to him, back in the temple, and she found herself smiling a bit. This time she wasn’t afraid of him. This time he was her anchor. This time...

“Um... about before...” she started.

“Hm?”

“Before I fell asleep, I heard you say something...”

“Ohh,” he breathed. “Yes, I remember.”

“You called me ‘beloved’.”

“I did.” She felt him take a deep breath. “I was relying on instinct for most of it. I saw you retreat into your mind and I needed to bring you out. I did what I thought would work.”

“I haven’t had an attack like that in a long time,” she admitted. “I get small ones all the time so we’re used to it. Those ones that get so violent that I lose sight of what’s real... those are rare. And very scary.”

“Can you tell me what triggered it?”

“The person who hurt me used words to drag me down as well as physical violence. He would insult me while he was beating me. I hear one of the words he used to say to me, and, well, you know the rest.”

Akashi’s arm wrapped around her shoulder and pulled her closer into his side. “Kouki, beloved, who is it that hurt you?”

She smiled at the name, knowing it would become common between to the two of them to use it. The smile faded quickly though; now was not the time. “The one who hurt me was my father.” She felt more than heard Akashi’s sharp gasp. “I was an unwanted child. I always knew that. My father only married my mother so he could have an heir to his farm. But I was born instead, and my mother was unable to have children after me. And I had always been weak, even as a baby.”

“So all my life he did his best to drag me down. He never called me by my name, only referred to me as ‘you’ or ‘girl’ or some kind of insult. He would force me to sleep in the barn on cold winter nights, would smack me around for the littlest mistake. My mother never did anything to stop it. The first time she tried, he beat her too. She never defended me after that. I never resented her for it.”

“It got worse as I got older. What started as a slap to the face for forgetting a chore turned into fists. What started as sleeping in the barn for a night turned into a week, then a month. I grew used to bruises and cuts. The first time I was on the receiving end of the belt I screamed my throat raw and couldn’t move for days, which I was then beat again for.”

“Oh, beloved...”

“My only hope was that some farmer or wealthy business man would take interest in me so I could escape the farm. One seemed to, but my father was bribing him with money and a portion of our crops to pretend to like me. He intended to sell me to that man, but the bruises on my body scared him off. That night was the first time he locked me in the barn and tied me to a post. Food and water was just beyond my reach. He left me there for three days.”

“When I heard the word that he used to use a lot on me, I started remembering one of the worst times. When I was tied up and gagged so I couldn’t scream while he hit me with the belt over and over. I thought I was back there again. I thought ‘this time, I might actually die’, but...” she turned closer to Akashi and placed her hand on his cheek with a small smile. Unshed tears glistened in both of their eyes. “But you pulled me out. You brought me back, and held me as I remembered where I was. I’ve never had that before. My sisters love me and care for me, but with you, if feels different.”

“I’m glad. Thank you for telling me, Kouki. I know it must have been hard,” Akashi said, squeezing her shoulder and pressing his face into the top of her hair. “You really are the bravest of us all.”

Furihata closed her eyes. “You know, we all had dreams that told us we were chosen. I was told I was ‘the Gods’ hope and courage’, and for a while I didn’t believe that.”

“Not many could have pulled through what you went through. The fact that you’re alive is a miracle.”

The two turned into each other, their gazes locked. Both had smiles on their faces. They spent a few moments just taking each other in. No words needed to be exchanged. They knew what the other was thinking.

“Hey! Guys! Can you come over here for a minute?”

Okay the moment was gone.

Akashi looked over his shoulder. Kise was waving at them. “This is important, you can go back to whatever it was you were doing later,” she said. Akashi just huffed. 

“Fine,” he groaned. He pushed himself to his feet before reaching down with both hands to pull Furihata up. The joined the group, all of whom were staring at them with knowing eyes. “Don’t give me that look, like you all haven’t done the same thing at some point.”

“I don’t know man, I’ve never made a face like that in my life and I’ve got one of the prettiest girls in the whole world sitting right next to me,” said Kagami. Kuroko’s face promptly turned bright red as she jabbed him in the side with her hand.

“You guys, this is serious!”

“You always say that, Ryou-chan, but most of the time you don’t mean it,” said Takao.

“This time it is! Please, can you all listen to me this one time?” The group nodded. “Okay, okay. So you all know the story: we tried to fight The Dark One 50 years ago, failed, and I used my powers to seal Him away. Right? There’s one thing I didn’t mention though.”

“Ryouta, what are you hiding from us?” Himuro asked, concerned.

Kise took a deep breath. Now or never. “I didn’t tell you all the details of how the cage worked or where it is. I had to use more than just my light powers to do it. I needed a little extra. I had to put Him somewhere he wouldn’t get out any time soon. I had to put him-” she cut off suddenly.

“...Ryouta?” Himuro said.

“Kise-chan, what is it?” asked Kuroko.

It was at this very moment that Hell itself broke loose.

Kise let out a loud, pained scream and collapsed on the ground, clutching her stomach. It looked like a crack was spreading open from her middle, with both bright light and wispy shadows crawling out of it. Aomine rushed to her side immediately, clutching her hand tightly in his own. The sky above their heads began to darken and the winds picked up.

“What the hell?” Kagami yelled over the noise. 

“No,” Himuro gasped. “It’s too soon.”

“Ryou-chan, what’s happening?” Takao and Midorima rushed to Kise’s side too, Midorima to check for injuries and Takao to comfort her friend. Kise just kept screaming.

Akashi grabbed Furihata and pulled her into his chest when a strong gust of wind blew a loose branch past them. Kagami reached for Kuroko and kept on arm around her shoulder. 

“Is what’s happening what I think it is?” Kagami shouted over the wind.

“It is,” Kuroko yelled back. 

“The Dark One is coming!”


End file.
